Blue Origin’s New Glenn Successfully Launches NASA’s Mars Probes
Launch Details and Overview
On November 13, 2025, Blue Origin successfully launched its second heavy-lift New Glenn rocket from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The rocket carried two NASA satellites on a mission to investigate how solar activity has contributed to the loss of Mars’ atmosphere over time. The 321-foot-tall rocket, powered by seven methane-burning engines, lifted off at 3:55 p.m. ET, generating 3.8 million pounds of thrust.
The launch was delayed by three days due to adverse weather conditions on Earth and a significant solar storm that posed potential risks to the rocket and its payloads. By launch day, conditions had improved, which allowed Blue Origin team members to celebrate the successful ascent of the rocket, followed by the audible roar of its engines across the Space Coast.
Achievements and Technical Mileststarts
The New Glenn rocket’s first stage, named “Never Tell Me The Odds,” featured several performance upgrades since its inaugural flight last January. In a notable improvement, the first stage successfully executed a controlled touchdown on an offshore landing barge, which marked a significant mileststart for Blue Origin. This reusable compstartnt will be transported back to Port Canaveral for inspections and potential refurbishment for future missions.
After the first stage successfully descended, the second stage executed two engine firings to achieve the designated Earth-escape trajectory, releasing the ESCAPADE satellites 33 minutes post-launch. The ESCAPADE mission, backed by NASA and managed by the University of California, Berkeley, comprises two low-cost satellites, colloquially named Blue and Gold.
The ESCAPADE Mission and Future Trajectory
The ESCAPADE (Escape, Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission, which cost $107.4 million, is designed to gather data on the Martian atmosphere and the impact of solar winds. Originally intended to travel to Mars alongside NASA’s Psyche mission, the ESCAPADE probes found a new opportunity to launch with the New Glenn rocket. The next Mars launch window opens in 2026.
Innovative planning by Advanced Space LLC allows the ESCAPADE probes to enter a loiter orbit around Earth for 11 months, enabling more flexible trajectories for future missions. The probes will make a gravity-assist maneuver close to Earth in November 2027 before heading to Mars, where they are expected to arrive in September 2027.
Scientific Objectives and Hypotheses
The mission aims to answer fundamental questions about the evolution of Mars’ atmosphere. Historically, Mars possessed a global magnetic field akin to Earth’s, but its core cooled, leading to a loss of this protection. Consequently, Mars’s atmosphere has been increasingly susceptible to high-energy solar particles.
Working in tandem, Blue and Gold will analyze the interaction between solar wind and the Martian atmosphere. This dual approach will help researchers measure both the conditions impacting Mars from space and the consequences of those conditions within its upper atmosphere. Principal investigator Robert Lillis emphasized the unprecedented nature of this simultaneous observation, as prior missions lacked such capability.
Understanding atmospheric escape is critical, as it’s believed to be a key factor in Mars’ climatic evolution. With data from the ESCAPADE mission, scientists hope to gain insights into the mechanisms behind Mars’ transition from a warmer, wetter environment to its current state.
By utilizing advanced techniques and fostering innovative approaches to space missions, Blue Origin and NASA are poised to contribute invaluable knowledge about our neighboring planet.