WASHINGTON — A NASA Mars smallsat mission bumped from the primary launch of Blue Origin’s New Glenn is tentatively set to fly on the second New Glenn later this summer time.
A line in NASA’s fiscal 12 months 2026 finances proposal, launched Might 30, offered the primary public indication that NASA’s Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers, or ESCAPADE, mission will launch on the second New Glenn.
“As a consequence of delays within the improvement schedule of the Blue Origin New Glenn launch car, NASA is within the course of of creating an up to date schedule and price profile to allow this mission to trip on the second launch of New Glenn,” the doc said. “The ESCAPADE launch readiness date is predicted in This autumn FY 2025.” The fourth quarter of fiscal 12 months 2025 is July by September.
ESCAPADE was initially scheduled to launch in October 2024 on New Glenn’s inaugural launch, referred to as NG-1, however NASA determined in September to take away ESCAPADE from that flight after concluding that the rocket wouldn’t be prepared in time earlier than the launch window closed in late October. NG-1 did launch in January, efficiently reaching orbit.
The mission has since been engaged on choices to launch on New Glenn in 2025 and 2026, utilizing extra advanced trajectories that will arrange an arrival at Mars in September 2027.
Shannon Curry, a member of the science group for ESCAPADE, mentioned at a Might 1 assembly of the Mars Exploration Program Evaluation Group that the mission was focusing on a launch as quickly as this summer time and as late as spring 2026. “We’re in conversations with [NASA] Headquarters on a regular basis to iron this one out,” she mentioned.
At that assembly, she declined to remark if NASA was contemplating different launch choices for ESCAPADE, deferring the query to NASA. An company spokesperson mentioned Might 6 that NASA was nonetheless planning to make use of New Glenn to launch ESCAPADE and provided the identical launch interval of summer time 2025 by spring 2026 for the launch.
“Blue Origin is managing the launch for ESCAPADE and we’re persevering with to work with them on the launch date,” NASA mentioned June 5 when requested concerning the language within the finances proposal about launching ESCAPADE on the second New Glenn. “The date in our technical complement is the present no earlier date when Blue Origin shall be able to launch ESCAPADE on New Glenn.”
NASA referred questions on New Glenn to Blue Origin. The corporate didn’t reply to questions concerning the standing of the car’s second launch.
Dave Limp, chief government of Blue Origin, mentioned at a convention in February that he anticipated the second New Glenn launch to happen in late spring. At the moment he mentioned the corporate was contemplating a number of choices for the payload on that launch, which he didn’t disclose, however added that if no buyer payloads have been obtainable the corporate would think about flying a mass simulator on the launch.
Blue Origin has not offered any current updates on plans for the second launch as summer time approaches. In a submitting with the Federal Communications Fee in early Might, the corporate requested approvals to make use of sure frequencies for the bottom check marketing campaign for the second New Glenn launch in addition to the launch itself. The beginning date for the request was July 1, ruling out a launch earlier than then.
