Countdown to Mars: NASA’s ESCAPADE Mission Set to Launch on New Glenn Rocket This Fall
16th Jul 2024
A NASA smallsat mission to Mars, ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers), remains on track to launch this fall, although no specific launch date has been given.
ESCAPADE Mission Overview
In a presentation at the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) 45th Scientific Assembly on 15 July, Rob Lillis of the University of California Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory confirmed that the ESCAPADE mission is set to launch within the next few months on the inaugural flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket.
ESCAPADE features two identical smallsats, named Blue and Gold, which will orbit Mars to study the planet’s magnetosphere and its interaction with the solar wind.
Spacecraft and Launch Preparations
Built by Rocket Lab, the spacecraft is nearly ready for launch. The Blue spacecraft has completed environmental testing, while the Gold spacecraft is undergoing final vibration testing. Two Mars-bound smallsats that will fly on the highly anticipated debut of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket have arrived at their launch site in Florida.2

“It’s been really exciting to see these two probes finally come together after working on them for so many years,” Lillis remarked.
The ESCAPADE mission has garnered significant attention, partly due to its association with the first flight of New Glenn, under a NASA task order valued at $20 million awarded in February 2023.
However, the exact launch date remains uncertain. On 26 August, NASA announced that the mission will launch no earlier than 13 October.
Anticipated Launch and Mission Timeline
Lillis stated that the mission is still slated for a fall launch, noting that the September launch date listed in one presentation slide was outdated. The launch window for Mars missions this year extends roughly through mid-October.
“We don’t know ourselves yet,” Lillis admitted, adding that he is closely coordinating with Blue Origin on launch preparations.
If ESCAPADE launches this fall, the spacecraft is expected to arrive at Mars 48 hours apart in September 2025 and commence its one-year prime science mission in April 2026. Lillis expressed hope that ESCAPADE could collaborate with several other Mars orbiters from NASA and other agencies, ushering in a “golden era” of studies on the Martian magnetosphere.
Significance and Challenges
ESCAPADE is also a test of the viability of small, low-cost spacecraft for conducting science missions beyond Earth.
NASA selected ESCAPADE in 2019 as part of its SIMPLEx line of planetary science smallsat missions, along with Janus and Lunar Trailblazer. While Janus was shelved due to launch delays, Lunar Trailblazer is scheduled to launch later this year as a rideshare on the second Intuitive Machines lander.
“It’s very much an experiment by NASA in reducing costs for planetary missions. Can you do a mission for approximately one-tenth of what NASA would have spent and what risks are you incurring by doing that?” Lillis said. “NASA is very interested in the answer to that question.”
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