Overview
- Blue Origin targets liftoff around 2:45 p.m. Eastern from Launch Complex 36 for New Glenn’s second flight and first with an operational payload.
- ESCAPADE’s trajectory keeps the spacecraft near the Earth–Sun L2 point for about a year before a November 2026 Earth flyby that sets course for a 2027 Mars arrival.
- Built by Rocket Lab and operated by UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory, the two smallsats will start in tandem orbits then shift to different planes for simultaneous measurements.
- Funded under NASA’s SIMPLEx program at under $80 million, the mission marks the first NASA interplanetary payload on New Glenn and a key validation of the rocket’s heavy‑lift role.
- Blue Origin will again attempt a barge landing on Jacklyn after NG‑1’s failed relight, while a Viasat relay demo rides along and NASA expects limited launch coverage during the government shutdown.