On Thursday, November 13, at 21:48 UTC (03:48 p.m. EST), NG-2 lifted off from LC-36, Cape Canaveral, FL. New Glenn’s second flight launched NASA’s ESCAPADE mission journey toward Mars. A Viasat technology demonstration for NASA’s Communications Services Project (CSP) was also launched, integrated inside the rocket during the entire mission.
New Glenn’s first stage landed in the ocean on the second attempt, making Blue Origin the second company ever, after SpaceX, to achieve a recovery of an orbital class rocket.
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) November 13, 2025
The launch of the precious Martian mission was originally planned for 2024 aboard New Glenn’s maiden flight, but was delayed by NASA. Today’s launch window follows two scrubbed attempts on Nov. 9 and Nov. 12, due to weather issues and solar activity.
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A total success
On Jan. 16, New Glenn’s first flight accomplished the primary mission of safely reaching a target orbit – “NG-1’s goal was clear: reach orbit, everything after that was a bonus,” declared Blue Origin’s CEO, Dave Limp.
Today, only ten months after that date, the company marked a huge step forward by releasing into space NASA’s twin Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE) spacecraft on their journey to the Red Planet.
Three minutes after liftoff, the second stage separated from the booster, powered by its two BE-3U engines. 40 seconds later, the fairing detached. Nearly half an hour into the flight, the two ESCAPADE Martian orbiters were deployed.
The landing attempt on the vessel was a success too. Following separation, the first stage autonomously descended on Jacklyn, the landing platform located several hundred miles from the coast, in the Atlantic Ocean. This historic result marks a major step for the future of Blue Origin’s launch and reusability capabilities.
The orbiters will first enter the Earth-Sun Lagrange Point (L2), where they will wait one year, before setting off toward Mars in 2026, when the Mars transfer orbit will open. The two satellites, named Blue and Gold, will follow a standard Hohmann interplanetary trajectory, performing several trajectory correction maneuvers (TCMs) along the way, and are expected to reach Mars in September 2027. Upon arrival, the Mars Orbit Insertion will place Blue and Gold into a large capture orbit, and they’ll start an 11-month mission around Mars, conducting a series of important scientific studies.
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EscaPADE
ESCAPADE is a low-cost twin spacecraft Class D mission to study Mars’ hybrid magnetosphere, and the first multi-spacecraft mission to the Red Planet ever. NASA’s Heliophysics Division funds the mission as part of the Agency’s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program. The science experiments are led by the University of California, Berkeley, while Rocket Lab built the spacecraft.
The twin ESCAPADE spacecraft are designed to investigate how the solar wind interacts with Mars’ hybrid magnetosphere and causes both ion escape and sputtering from the planet’s upper atmosphere. The mission has three main goals:
- Understand the dynamics of Mars’ hybrid magnetosphere and how it channels ion flows.
- Uncover how energy and momentum are transported from the solar wind through this unique hybrid magnetosphere.
- Study the mechanism controlling the flow of energy and matter into and out of the planet’s collisional atmosphere.
Each satellite is equipped with three key instruments: EMAG, EESA, and ELP. EMAG is a magnetometer measuring DC magnetic fields up to 1000 nT. EESA is an electrostatic analyzer that detects suprathermal ions from 2 eV to 20 keV and suprathermal electrons from 3 eV to 10 keV. ELP is a Langmuir probe measuring plasma density from 20 to 30,000 particles/cm3 and solar EUV flux from 5 to 20 mW/m2.
The mission also supports NASA’s broader exploration objectives by characterizing space weather and ionospheric variations that can affect communications and navigation on Mars. Since the interaction between the solar wind and Mars’ upper atmosphere is highly dynamic and cannot be fully measured remotely, EscaPADE will perform coordinated, in situ, multipoint plasma observations. These measurements are essential for understanding both the temporal changes and real-time responses of Mars’ near-space environment to space weather.
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InRange
With today’s mission, Viasat, a major global SATCOM provider, is demonstrating its InRange launch telemetry relay service through its collaboration with NASA’s Communications Services Project (CSP). The goal is to offer a new space-based communications solution for launch operations, ensuring improved performance, flexibility, and resilience.
Since NASA announced in November 2024 that no additional missions will use Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS), launch companies will require commercially provided telemetry relay services. Viasat’s InRange service aims to maintain a continuous link to ground systems thanks to the company’s global L-band satellite network. This enables the reception of real-time telemetry data during launch, allowing for constant tracking of the vehicle even when it’s out of sight, and preventing signal dropouts that may happen when using only ground stations.
*Cover image credits: Blue Origin
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