NASA, Blue Origin Launch Two Spacecraft to Study Mars, Solar Wind
NASA recently celebrated the successful launch of its ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission, which aims to deepen our understanding of Mars and its interaction with solar phenomena. Launched on a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, the mission is particularly significant as it will study how the solar wind—a continuous stream of charged particles emitted by the Sun—has affected Mars’ atmosphere and surface over time. This research is vital not only for understanding Mars’ transformation into a desolate desert planet but also for preparing for future human exploration of the Red Planet. Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy emphasized the importance of this mission, stating it will provide critical data necessary for protecting future astronauts and advancing the agency’s goal of establishing a human presence on Mars.
The ESCAPADE mission comprises two twin spacecraft developed by Rocket Lab, which will embark on a unique trajectory to Mars. Instead of making a direct journey, the spacecraft will first travel to a point in space known as Lagrange point 2, located about a million miles from Earth. This innovative approach allows them to effectively “loiter” until a favorable alignment between Earth and Mars occurs in November 2026, enabling a gravity-assist maneuver that will propel them toward their destination. Once they arrive at Mars in September 2027, ESCAPADE will be the first dual-spacecraft mission to orbit the planet, allowing for unprecedented studies of Martian space weather. The two spacecraft will initially operate in a coordinated “string-of-pearls” formation, enabling them to gather data on how solar wind conditions vary over short timeframes, before transitioning to different orbits for more specialized observations.
In addition to its primary scientific goals, the ESCAPADE mission will also contribute to advancements in space communications technology. It carries a demonstration payload from Viasat Inc., which will test next-generation satellite relay services, furthering NASA’s efforts to commercialize space communication technologies. As the mission unfolds, it promises not only to enhance our understanding of Mars’ environmental conditions but also to pave the way for future missions and human exploration, marking another significant step in humanity’s quest to explore the cosmos. For more information on the ESCAPADE mission, visit NASA’s dedicated page [here](https://science.nasa.gov/mission/escapade/).
NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission launched at 3:55 p.m. EST atop a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket at Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Credit: Blue Origin
A pair of NASA spacecraft ultimately destined for Mars will study how its magnetic environment is impacted by the Sun. The mission also will help the agency prepare for future human exploration of Mars.
NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) spacecraft launched at 3:55 p.m. EST, Thursday, aboard a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
“Congratulations to Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, UC Berkeley, and all our partners on the successful launch of ESCAPADE. This heliophysics mission will help reveal how Mars became a desert planet, and how solar eruptions affect the Martian surface,” said acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy. “Every launch of New Glenn provides data that will be essential when we launch MK-1 through Artemis. All this information will be critical to protect future NASA explorers and invaluable as we evaluate how to deliver on President Trump’s vision of planting the Stars and Stripes on Mars.”
The twin spacecraft, built by Rocket Lab, will investigate how a never-ending, million-mile-per-hour stream of particles from the Sun, known as the solar wind, has gradually stripped away much of the Martian atmosphere, causing the planet to cool and its surface water to evaporate. The mission is led by the University of California, Berkeley.
Ground controllers for the ESCAPADE mission established communications with both spacecraft by 10:35 p.m. EST.
“The ESCAPADE mission is part of our strategy to understand Mars’ past and present so we can send the first astronauts there safely,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Understanding Martian space weather is a top priority for future missions because it helps us protect systems, robots, and most importantly, humans, in extreme environments.”
New Glenn also carried a space communications technology demonstration from Viasat Inc., supporting NASA’s efforts to commercialize next-generation satellite relay services for science missions. Funded by the agency’s
Communications Services Project
, the demonstration transmitted launch telemetry data from the rocket’s second stage to an operations center on Earth through Viasat’s geostationary satellite network.
Blazing new trails
Recent solar activity, which triggered widespread auroras on Earth, caused a slight
delay in launch
to prevent solar storms from negatively impacting post-launch spacecraft commissioning. When ESCAPADE arrives at Mars, it will study present-day effects of the solar wind and solar storms on the Red Planet in real time. This will provide insights about Martian space weather and help NASA better understand the conditions astronauts will face when they reach Mars.
“The ESCAPADE spacecraft are now about to embark on a unique journey to Mars never traversed by any other mission,” said Alan Zide, ESCAPADE program executive at NASA Headquarters.
Rather than heading directly to Mars, the twin spacecraft will first head to a location in space a million miles from Earth called Lagrange point 2. Right now, Earth and Mars are on opposite sides of the Sun, which makes it harder to travel from one planet to the other. In November 2026, when Earth and Mars are closely aligned in their orbits, the ESCAPADE spacecraft will loop back to Earth and use Earth’s gravity to slingshot themselves toward Mars.
In the past, Mars missions have waited to launch during a brief window of time when Earth and Mars are aligned, which happens roughly every two years. However, with the type of trajectory ESCAPADE is using, future missions could launch nearly anytime and wait in space, queueing up for their interplanetary departure, until the two planets are in position.
This original “Earth-proximity” or “loiter” orbit also will make ESCAPADE the first mission to ever pass through a distant region of Earth’s magnetotail, part of our planet’s magnetic field that gets stretched out away from the Sun by the solar wind.
Studying Mars in stereo
After a 10-month cruise, ESCAPADE is expected to arrive at Mars in September 2027, becoming the first coordinated dual-spacecraft mission to enter orbit around another planet.
Over several months, the two spacecraft will arrange themselves in their initial science formation, in which the twin spacecraft will follow each other in the same “string-of-pearls” orbit, passing through the same areas in quick succession to investigate for the first time how space weather conditions vary on short timescales. This science campaign will begin in June 2028.
Six months later, both spacecraft will shift into different orbits, with one traveling farther from Mars and the other staying closer to it. Planned to last for five months, this second formation aims to study the solar wind and Mars’ upper atmosphere simultaneously, allowing scientists to investigate how the planet responds to the solar wind in real time.
In addition, ESCAPADE will provide more information about Mars’ ionosphere — a part of the upper atmosphere that future astronauts will rely on to send radio and navigation signals around the planet.
The ESCAPADE mission is funded by NASA’s Heliophysics Division and is part of NASA’s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration program. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and Advanced Space support the mission. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, secured the launch service with Blue Origin under the Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare contract.
To learn more about the ESCAPADE mission, visit:
-end-
Abbey Interrante
Headquarters, Washington
301-201-0124
abbey.a.interrante@nasa.gov
Leejay Lockhart
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-747-8310
leejay.lockhart@nasa.gov
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Last Updated
Nov 14, 2025
Editor
Jennifer M. Dooren
Location
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Related Terms
EscaPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers)
Heliophysics
Kennedy Space Center
Launch Services Program
Science & Research
Science Mission Directorate
