NASA launched this Thursday (13) two identical spacecraft from the ESCAPADE mission aboard Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. The launch took place at 5:55 pm (Brasília time) from Launch Complex 36, at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, in Florida.
The spacecraft, named Blue and Gold, aim to study in real time the interaction of the solar wind with the atmosphere of Mars. The mission will help understand why the red planet has lost much of its atmosphere over billions of years.
Communication with both spacecraft was established at 0:35 am this Friday (14), confirming that they are healthy and on the correct trajectory.
Innovative path to Mars
The ships do not go straight to Mars. They first go to the Lagrange point L2, about 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, in the opposite direction to the Sun.
In November 2026, when Earth and Mars are aligned, spacecraft will fly by Earth. This gravitational assistance maneuver will launch them towards the red planet.
Arrival is scheduled for September 2027, after a ten-year journeymonths. This route allows for launches outside the traditional planetary alignment windows, which occur every 26 months.
First dual mission in orbit of another planet
ESCAPADE will be the first mission to place two spacecraft in coordinated orbits around Mars simultaneously.
From June 2028, the ships will follow the same orbit in a “string of pearls” formation. They will pass over the same points just a few minutes apart to capture rapid variations in space weather.
Six months later, they will switch to different orbits: one higher and one lower. This configuration will allow us to observe how the solar wind affects different altitudes of the Martian atmosphere at the same time.
Mission science objectives
- Measure in real time the impact of solar wind on Mars’ magnetosphere and ionosphere
- Identify atmospheric loss processes that transformed Mars into a desert
- Map space weather variations on scales of minutes to hours
- Provide data to protect future manned missions to the red planet
The mission will also cross for the first time the magnetic tail far from Earth, a region little explored.
Technology and partnerships involved
The spacecraft werebuilt by Rocket Lab and led by the University of California at Berkeley. The project is part of NASA’s heliophysics mission program.
The New Glenn rocket made its maiden flight with a scientific payload from the American space agency. The second stage also carried communications technology demonstrations from Viasat to NASA.
The data collected will support the planning of manned missions to the red planet scheduled for the next decade.
ESCAPADE’s next steps
The ships remain in the initial systems verification phase. In the coming months, they will make trajectory adjustments and test scientific instruments.
The main scientific phase begins in 2028 and is expected to last at least one Martian year (about two Earth years). The results will directly contribute to the safety of astronauts on future missions to the surface of Mars.