NASA Stands Down from October Launch for ESCAPADE to Mars

NASA announced Friday it will not fuel the two ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) spacecraft at this time, foregoing the mission’s upcoming October launch window. While future launch opportunities are under review, the next possible earliest launch date is spring 2025.

The agency’s decision to stand down was based on a review of launch preparations and discussions with Blue Origin, the Federal Aviation Administration, and Space Launch Delta 45 Range Safety Organization, as well as NASA’s Launch Services Program and Science Mission Directorate. The decision was made to avoid significant cost, schedule, and technical challenges associated with potentially removing fuel from the spacecraft in the event of a launch delay, which could be caused by a number of factors.

“This mission can help us study the atmosphere at Mars — key information as we explore farther and farther into our solar system and need to protect astronauts and spacecraft from space weather,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We’re committed to seeing ESCAPADE safely into space, and I look forward to seeing it off the ground and on its trip to Mars.”

Two spacecraft approach Mars
Caption: Illustration of ESCAPADE twin spacecraft entering Mars’ orbit. Credits: James Rattray/Rocket Lab USA

The alignment of Earth and Mars constrains ESCAPADE’s windows of launch opportunities to the Red Planet. This means that small schedule changes can result in months-long delays in launch. The mission team is analyzing larger planetary window opportunities. NASA and Blue Origin are discussing an additional opportunity to launch the spacecraft to Mars no earlier than spring 2025.

 “This is an important mission for NASA, and it’s critical we have sufficient margin in our prelaunch work to ensure we are ready to fly a tight planetary window,” said Bradley Smith, NASA’s Launch Services Office director at NASA Headquarters.

The ESCAPADE mission will use two identical spacecraft to study how the solar wind interacts with Mars’ magnetic environment, driving the planet’s atmospheric escape. The mission falls under NASA’s Heliophysics Division and is part of the NASA Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration program. The mission is led by the University of California, Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory, with key partners Rocket Lab; NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; Embry Riddle Aeronautical University; and Advanced Space LLC. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, secured the launch service with Blue Origin under the VADR (Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) contract. 

NASA’s ESCAPADE Mission to Mars Receives Launch Date from Blue Origin

NASA’s Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) identical dual spacecrafts are inspected and processed on spacecraft dollies in a high bay of the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024.
NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) twin spacecraft undergo processing inside a high bay at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

Editor’s Note: Post was updated Aug. 26, 2024, to add more information about the spacecraft team.

NASA’s next science mission to Mars is targeted to launch no earlier than Sunday, Oct. 13, on Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket from Space Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The agency’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission consists of two spacecraft, designed and built by Rocket Lab, operating as a coordinated pair. The spacecraft will investigate how a stream of particles from the Sun called the solar wind interacts with Mars’ magnetic environment and how this interaction drives the planet’s atmospheric escape.

Blue Origin LLC of Kent, Washington, was awarded a task order to provide launch service for ESCAPADE as part of the agency’s VADR (Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) launch services contract. NASA’s venture class approach lowers launch costs for more risk tolerant science payloads by using less agency oversight, giving the commercial company greater flexibility in managing the launch services for the mission.

NASA’s 2 ESCAPADE Spacecraft Arrive in Florida for Launch

Twin NASA spacecraft destined to orbit Mars as a coordinated pair have arrived in Florida in preparation for launch.

With its two spacecraft, NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission will investigate how a stream of particles from the Sun called the solar wind interacts with Mars’ magnetic environment and how this interaction drives the planet’s atmospheric escape.

Two shiny, silver spacecraft sit on platforms, one on the left in the foreground and one on the right in the background. Each spacecraft has a large, round, white disk on the right side, and wires and cannisters around the bottom. Large, folded-up solar panels are visible on the sides of the spacecraft in the background.
The twin ESCAPADE spacecraft appear side by side at Rocket Lab in Long Beach, California, before being shipped to Florida in August.
Credit: Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab designed, built, and tested the two spacecraft at their Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California, for NASA and the University of California, Berkeley, which is leading the science mission. On Aug. 18, 2024, the spacecraft arrived at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility in Titusville, Florida, to prepare for launch from Cape Canaveral this fall.

Upon delivery, members of the Rocket Lab and UC Berkeley teams moved the spacecraft to a cleanroom to conduct post-transport inspections and tests. Following these checks, the team will fuel the spacecraft next month in preparation for launch on Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket.

“The successful delivery of the spacecraft marks a significant milestone and the culmination of over three years of dedicated teamwork from individuals across the project,” said ESCAPADE’s Principal Investigator Rob Lillis of the Space Sciences Laboratory at UC Berkeley. “Now, we’re thrilled to embark on this first step of our journey to Mars!”

A person in a gray shirt drives a yellow forklift inside a large room with white walls and gray floors. On the front of the forklift is a large white box with "Rocket Lab" written on the side.
On Aug. 18, 2024, Rocket Lab delivered the two spacecraft for NASA’s ESCAPADE mission to the Astrotech Space Operations Facility in Titusville, Florida, in preparation for launch this fall.
Credit: NASA/Norman Phelps

After the ESCAPADE spacecraft reach Mars in September 2025, the mission team will need several months to configure their orbits for science observations. In early 2026, the spacecraft will begin flying in a “string of pearls” formation with one spacecraft following the other in roughly the same orbit, looking for rapid changes around Mars in response to variations in the solar wind. Several months later, they will change orbits, allowing one spacecraft to fly farther away from Mars while the other is close so that ESCAPADE can observe both the solar wind and Martian upper atmosphere simultaneously to study the cause and effect of the solar wind on Mars’ atmosphere in real time.

These observations will tell us more about the role of the solar wind in Mars’ climate history and how the Red Planet transitioned from a warm and watery world to the cold, arid place it is today.

ESCAPADE is funded by NASA’s Heliophysics Division and is part of the NASA Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration program. The mission is led by the University of California, Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory, with key partners Rocket Lab; NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; Embry Riddle Aeronautical University; and Advanced Space LLC. NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy Space Center, secured the launch service with Blue Origin under the VADR (Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) contract.

by Vanessa Thomas
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

NASA’s ESCAPADE Mission – Twin Martian Orbiters – Moves Toward Launch

Illustration of the ESCAPADE spacecraft in orbit around Mars. Credits: Rocket Lab USA/UC Berkeley

NASA’s Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers, or ESCAPADE mission, passed a mission review on August 17, 2021, moving the mission into its next phase with a new target launch readiness date of October 2024.

The review, Key Decision Point C, evaluated the mission’s preliminary design and project plan to achieve launch by its target launch readiness date. With the successful review, ESCAPADE now moves into phase C, which includes the final design of the mission and building of the instruments.

“We are thrilled to pass this critical milestone, the culmination of two years of science and engineering work from a talented and dedicated team at UC Berkeley and our partners,” said Rob Lillis, space physicist at UC Berkeley and principal investigator for ESCAPADE. “We’re very excited to now move towards final designs, assembly, test, launch and get on our way to Mars.”

ESCAPADE consists of two identical interplanetary Photon spacecraft developed by Rocket Lab. Both spacecraft are about the size of a mini-fridge and weigh no more than about 250 pounds (120 kilograms) excluding fuel.

“This is a hugely promising mission that will deliver big science in a small package,” said Peter Beck, Rocket Lab founder and CEO. “Our Photon spacecraft for ESCAPADE will demonstrate a more cost-effective approach to planetary exploration that will increase the science community’s access to our solar system for the better. I’m thrilled that the hard work and dedication of the engineering teams at UC Berkeley and Rocket Lab to date have paid off and the mission has been approved by NASA to begin final design and building.”

Launching no earlier than January 2024, the twin ESCAPADE spacecraft will spend 11 months in interplanetary space before entering a highly elliptical orbit around Mars.  They will spend six months gradually descending into the same nominal science orbit like pearls on a string, passing within 100 miles (160 kilometers) of the Martian surface at closest approach.

“For ESCAPADE, we’re evaluating a number of rideshare options to enable this critically important science while also lowering costs,” said Alan Zide, program executive for the mission at NASA HQ.

ESCAPADE will study how Mars’ magnetosphere – the magnetized area of space around the planet – interacts with the solar wind, and the processes driving its atmospheric escape.

“This constellation of two satellites at Mars will answer big questions about the atmosphere and the solar wind in real time,” said Shannon Curry, project scientist for the mission at UC Berkeley.

“With simultaneous two-point observations, ESCAPADE will bring us the first ‘stereo’ picture of this highly dynamic environment,” Lillis added.

Using instruments to measure magnetic fields, ions, and electrons, the ESCAPADE spacecraft will analyze how Mars’ magnetic field guides particle flows around the planet; how energy and momentum are transported from the solar wind through Mars’ magnetosphere; and what processes control the flow of energy and matter into and out of the atmosphere.

“Our heliophysics decadal surveys” – the community-wide survey used to set NASA’s scientific objectives – “have identified the scientific need to study the space environments of other planets,” said Jared Leisner, ESCAPADE program scientist at NASA HQ. “By studying the same processes at different planets, we gain key insights into how they function both at Earth and at other planets beyond the solar system.”

ESCAPADE is led by the University of California, Berkeley. The mission is managed by the Planetary Mission Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. ESCAPADE is part of the NASA Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program and is funded through the Heliophysics Division at NASA HQ.

By Miles Hatfield
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.