Overview
- New Glenn is slated to lift off from Cape Canaveral to send NASA’s twin ESCAPADE spacecraft toward Mars on Sunday, Nov. 9.
- A seven‑engine BE‑4 static fire on Oct. 30 completed a key readiness milestone for the 321‑foot rocket.
- ESCAPADE consists of two Rocket Lab‑built smallsats, Blue and Gold, under NASA’s SIMPLEx program to study how the solar wind drives atmospheric escape at Mars.
- Blue Origin will attempt to land the new first stage, Never Tell Me the Odds, on the Atlantic drone ship Jacklyn for potential refurbishment after the debut booster was not recovered in January, according to the FAA.
- The mission leads a crowded launch week that includes Atlas V and multiple SpaceX flights, with reports that Florida’s Space Coast could set a new yearly launch record, and some Chinese launch dates remain tentative.