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52m ago

Blue Origin’s New Glenn Launches NASA’s ESCAPADE Toward Mars After Space-Weather Scrubs

The probes take an L2 parking route with an Earth gravity assist, giving Blue Origin a chance to validate New Glenn’s deep-space capability and reusability.

Darkness falls as a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket is prepped for launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station November 8, 2025. The rocket is scheduled to launch Sunday afternoon with NASA’s ESCAPADE mission. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket sits on the launch pad, shortly before being delayed by weather on Earth and in space.
© Blue Origin
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket is fueled for launch with NASA's EscaPADE mission, carrying two satellites to orbit Mars, from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., November 9, 2025. REUTERS/Joe Skipper

Overview

  • New Glenn lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Nov. 13, sending NASA’s twin ESCAPADE spacecraft on a trajectory to loiter near L2 before departing for Mars for a planned 2027 arrival.
  • The launch followed multiple postponements caused by local weather, a cruise ship incursion, a pad systems issue, and a rare G4 geomagnetic-storm watch from NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
  • Blue Origin attempted downrange recovery of the first-stage booster on the barge Jacklyn after booster loss on the January maiden flight, with outcome not yet confirmed.
  • ESCAPADE’s identical Blue and Gold satellites, built by Rocket Lab and managed by UC Berkeley, will study Mars’ magnetosphere and atmospheric escape as a low-cost SIMPLEx mission.
  • A Viasat InRange telemetry demonstration for NASA’s Communications Services Project flew on the upper stage as a secondary payload.