Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos' rocket venture, has announced an October 13 launch date for the inaugural mission of the New Glenn rocket, despite recent reports of mishaps during testing. The rocket will carry a NASA smallsat mission to Mars, dubbed EscaPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers), which must be launched in a relatively tight window to reach the red planet.
New Glenn second stage on its mobile test stand. Image Credit: Blue origin
The EscaPADE mission consists of two small spacecraft that will analyze the Martian magnetic field. The launch window for EscaPADE extends from October to November, and failure to meet this deadline would result in a two-year wait until Mars and Earth are aligned again to permit another try.
Blue Origin has confirmed that none of the recent "anomalies" have affected the configuration planned for the October 13 launch, and that all flight hardware is complete. However, the close proximity of these incidents to the launch date has raised concerns about the readiness of the New Glenn rocket.
One incident involved a pressurization problem at the launcher's hangar, causing part of a rocket to buckle. Another incident involved a tank failure during testing, resulting in explosive consequences. Blue Origin has stated that these tests, including those with anomalies, allow them to make their
future hardware and systems more robust.
The company is closing in on the final phase of its launch preparations, with the rollout of the second stage to Launch Complex 36 in Florida scheduled for Monday. A hot fire test of the upper stage, powered by two BE-3U engines, is planned for the next week. The company will then integrate the first and second stages, and add the payload fairing with the spacecraft inside.
Blue Origin rolled out its New Glenn rocket out of the hangar at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station earlier this year. Image credit: Blue origin
The company is closing in on the final phase of its launch preparations, with the rollout of the second stage to Launch Complex 36 in Florida scheduled for Monday. A hot fire test of the upper stage, powered by two BE-3U engines, is planned for the next week. The company will then integrate the first and second stages, and add the payload fairing with the spacecraft inside.
EscaPADE Mission
EscaPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) is a NASA smallsat mission designed to study the Martian atmosphere. The mission consists of two identical spacecraft, named Blue and Gold, which will orbit Mars to gather data on the planet's magnetosphere and its interaction with the solar wind. This information is crucial for understanding how Mars' atmosphere has evolved over time and how it is being stripped away by solar wind.
Rocket Lab designed, built, and tested the two ESCAPADE spacecraft in a little more than three years. This is relatively fast for an interplanetary mission. NASA selected the ESCAPADE mission for development in 2019 as part of a new class of small planetary science missions in which scientists can propose concepts for modest probes to explore the Solar System.
ESCAPADE was originally supposed to launch as a piggyback payload with NASA's Psyche asteroid mission in 2022, but the agency decided to switch the Psyche launch from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to a larger Falcon Heavy. "So they changed their launch targets, and in doing so, it kind of broke our mission design, or at least very nearly broke it," said Rob Lillis, the mission's lead scientist from the University of California Berkeley's Space Science Laboratory.
"We had to do a rapid redesign of the spacecraft and the mission with only about two months before our Preliminary Design Review [PDR] back in 2020, and it was a disaster," he said. "We failed our PDR, but it wasn't really our fault. So NASA gave us another couple million dollars, and it was 10 more months to come up with a mission design that was resilient and flexible and could work with a range of different launch options."
The redesign resulted in size growth for the ESCAPADE probes and a change in spacecraft builders,
from Tyvak to Rocket Lab.
The two spacecraft for NASA's ESCAPADE mission at Rocket Lab's factory in Long Beach, California.
Image Credit: Rocket lab
Scientific Objectives
Magnetosphere Dynamics: EscaPADE aims to provide detailed measurements of the Martian magnetosphere, helping scientists understand its structure and dynamics.
Atmospheric Escape: The mission will study the processes that drive atmospheric escape on Mars, which is key to understanding the planet's climate history.
Solar Wind Interaction: By observing how the solar wind interacts with Mars' atmosphere, EscaPADE will offer insights into the broader space weather environment around the planet.
Instruments on Board
Each spacecraft is equipped with a suite of scientific instruments, including:
Magnetometers: To measure the magnetic field around Mars.
Electrostatic Analyzers: To study the charged particles in the Martian atmosphere.
Langmuir Probes: To measure the electron density and temperature in the ionosphere.
Importance of the Mission
The data collected by EscaPADE will be invaluable for future Mars missions, including potential human exploration. Understanding the Martian atmosphere and its interaction with solar wind will help in designing better protection for astronauts and equipment.
Launch and Integration
The New Glenn rocket will carry the EscaPADE spacecraft inside its payload fairing. The integration process involves:
Hot Fire Test: A critical test of the upper stage to ensure all systems are functioning correctly.
Stage Integration: Combining the first and second stages of the rocket.
Payload Integration : Attaching the payload fairing with the EscaPADE spacecraft inside to the rocket.
The New Glenn rocket has a lift capacity of 45 metric tons to low-Earth orbit and features a fully reusable first stage. The debut launch will attempt an ambitious drone ship landing of the first stage, although success is unlikely on the first try.
Blue Origin's CEO, Dave Limp, has prioritized the completion and launch of the New Glenn rocket since joining the company in December. The debut of the New Glenn rocket will mark a significant milestone in the development of commercial heavy-lift rockets, joining SpaceX's Falcon Heavy and Starship rockets in this category.
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