CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – Blue Origin reports in a post that they are readying their 2nd New Glenn rocket for launch sometime around the late October to early November timeframe – so long as all goes well with a hotfire test of the first stage in mid-October time period.
The long delayed flight dubbed New Glenn-2 (NG-2) will be tasked with launching NASA’s twin ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) Mars Orbiters to the Red Planet to study the solar wind’s interaction with Mars.
The NG-2 first stage dubbed GS-1 has been assembled and testing is nearing completion.
The stage will be rolled out to Blue Origins launch pad 36 earlier in October to prepare for the hold down hotfire test of the first stage engines
The ESCAPADE spacecraft have been shipped and arrived at the Astrotech processing facility in Titusville, FL, nearby NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
They are awaiting integration with the NG-2 rocket
“ESCAPADE is at Astrotech and GS1 is headed to LC-36 in early October. Next up is the vehicle hotfire mid-month with launch soon thereafter,” Blue Origin posted on the X social media platform.
https://x.com/blueorigin/status/1971537789561852032
“Blue Origin is targeting later this fall for the launch of New Glenn’s second mission (NG-2) from Space Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida,” said NASA in a press release.
The ESCAPADE spacecraft were built by Rocket Lab
“The ESCAPADE spacecraft arrived at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility in Titusville, Florida, on Sept. 16 from Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California, where it was designed, built, and tested.”
After arriving in Mars orbit, the two spacecraft “will study the structure of the Martian magnetic field, how it interacts with space weather, and how this interaction drives the planet’s atmospheric escape. The information gained from the ESCAPADE spacecraft will enable us to better protect future human and robotic missions to the Red Planet.”
The ESCAPADE launch was originally scheduled to last Fall 2024, but New Glenn was not ready and they missed the launch window
The first New Glenn rocket finally launched in Jan 2025 after mush delay on a mostly successful maiden mission
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