The NASA ESCAPADE Mars mission is almost ready to be launched. The recent announcement made by Rocket Lab on X provided some detail on the remaining steps before the twin spacecraft’s launch on Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket by the end of 2024.
Delivered to Florida & ready for Mars 🛰️🛰️
— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) August 20, 2024
After a four-day, 2,560-mile journey across the U.S., our ESCAPDE twin spacecraft for @ucbssl and @NASA have made it to @AstrotechSpace in prep for lift-off. The twins have been unboxed & in the coming days we'll start integration with… pic.twitter.com/qBpYONDY5W
Following the integration of the numerous scientific instruments that will investigate Mars’ magnetosphere, the twin spacecraft underwent a thorough test campaign at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex, the company reports in a press release. Blue and Gold, as the team calls the two space probes, were then shipped to Cape Canaveral, Florida, housed in Astrotech’s payload processing facility.
“Time and again, Rocket Lab’s agility and tireless efforts have impressed me … We couldn’t ask for better partners in this endeavor”, said ESCAPADE’s Principal Investigator Rob Lillis.
In the coming weeks, the spacecraft will be integrated on Blue Origin’s first operational New Glenn rocket. This highly anticipated heavy-lift rocket was designed with reusability in mind. Its first stage is designed to steer and land propulsively on a custom-built landing ship upon reentry.
The aerospace company also designed the BE-3U and BE-4 rocket engines to power New Glenn, the latter already flight-proven by a successful launch of ULA’s latest rocket, Vulcan.
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Making science takes two
Like many other challenging scientific missions that preceded it, ESCAPADE has been a collaboration between experienced aerospace companies, scientific entities, and government agencies.
NASA and the University of California Berkeley are behind the mission design and scientific objectives for the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE). Rocket Lab was appointed to design the spacecraft in 2020, and the main spacecraft bus was developed from the Rocket Lab Photon. The various scientific instruments and vital components also came from companies in different countries. For example, the thrusters are provided by ArianeGroup.
After departure, the spacecraft will travel for 11 months toward the Red Planet. The main objective of the mission is to investigate Mars’ magnetosphere in a unique way. The two spacecraft gather data on two different orbits, permitting a “stereo view” of the changing environment around the planet.
These efforts will help researchers investigate the phenomena causing Mars’ atmospheric decay. The Red Planet has been “losing” its upper atmosphere for millions of years now and shedding light on this process will help scientists know why and how.
Great efforts have been made for Rocket Lab’s first Mars mission, and according to Peter Beck, the company’s CEO: “Our Space Systems team has built a beautiful and highly capable pair of spacecraft. […] We couldn’t be prouder to be an ESCAPADE mission partner enabling science and exploration missions beyond our planet.”
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Entering the scene with great ambition
Although it promises to become a main US aerospace launch provider, Blue Origin hasn’t really proved its worth yet, but its time is coming. While the engines that will power the New Glenn’s first stage in a 7-engine configuration have accompanied ULA’s Vulcan to orbit, the same can’t be said for any of Blue Origin’s proprietary projects, yet. New Shepard has delivered easy access to the space environment with several successful missions, albeit on a suborbital trajectory.
Nearly seven years ago, a large blue and white factory rose on Florida’s Space Coast, but updates on the New Glenn’s development were scarce. However, in recent times, the new Launch Complex 36 was completed, and more images from inside the Production Facility were shared as the project schedule progressed.
Recently, Blue Origin’s CEO, Dave Limp, also shared various updates on his social media channels about the New Glenn test campaign. Limp posted video of tests on the aerodynamic fins, the Reaction Control Systems thrusters, and the landing legs.
Congrats and thanks to the teams involved in this effort. The full landing gear bay is roughly 20 feet tall. Each leg can support over 150 tons of impact at touchdown, roughly the weight of two fully loaded 737 aircraft. The legs are a folding link design, similar to aircraft https://t.co/h72FV2MAll
— Dave Limp (@davill) July 17, 2024
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More details emerge in new interview
A significant look at the state-of-the-art facility and rocket was released just some days ago, with a special interview hosted by the American YouTuber Tim Dodd (Everyday Astronaut), touring the factory with Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin. The exclusive look and interview clearly showed a streamlined approach to production, with Bezos teasing a 16-day turnaround time for the booster, initially designed for 25 reuses. Four boosters were in production at the time of recording, on May 30th, 2024, with the first flight hardware nearly complete.
According to Bezos, at least initially, the New Glenn’s first stage will land on the platform at sea. Later on, if economically advantageous, the return to launch site will be implemented. The potential reuse of the second stage, which they are already working on, will also heavily depend on economic factors.
With innovative production elements and machines, and the floor buzzing with activity, Blue Origin seems on track to deliver a greatly capable rocket as its first orbital-class project. New Glenn will transport 45 metric tons of payload to low Earth orbit (LEO). Bezos remarked the importance of hosting a NASA mission on New Glenn’s first launch, while still pointing out that ESCAPADE is a small-sized payload for such a rocket.
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