NASA's twin ESCAPADE spacecraft launched aboard Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket on November 14, 2025, marking the first operational satellites on the new launcher. The probes, built by Rocket Lab, feature easter eggs including kiwi bird graphics honoring the company's New Zealand roots. The mission will study Mars' space weather after a two-year journey.
The ESCAPADE mission, short for Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers, lifted off at 3:55 pm EST (2055 GMT) from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The launch, delayed from Sunday due to poor weather and a solar storm, carried the identical satellites named Blue and Gold, after the University of California, Berkeley's colors. Led by UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory, the probes are the first Mars-bound vehicles designed, built, and tested by Rocket Lab, headquartered in California but founded in New Zealand.
Blue Origin's New Glenn NG-2 rocket achieved full mission success, with its first stage, nicknamed 'Never Tell Me the Odds,' landing on the recovery vessel Jacklyn 375 miles east of Cape Canaveral—a first for the company on its second flight. 'We achieved full mission success today, and I am so proud of the team,' said Dave Limp, CEO of Blue Origin. 'Never before in history has a booster this large nailed the landing on the second try.' The BE-4 engines produced over 3.8 million pounds of thrust using liquefied natural gas and liquid oxygen.
ESCAPADE Blue deployed about 30 minutes after liftoff, followed by Gold 30 seconds later. The mini-fridge-sized satellites, each about a half-ton fueled, will enter a loiter orbit around Lagrange point 2, a million miles from Earth, until fall 2026. They will then use a gravity assist for a 10-month transit, arriving at Mars in September 2027 at an initial 280-mile altitude before transitioning to science orbits.
From June 2028 to May 2029, the probes will conduct two campaigns: flying in formation, then separately, to measure solar wind effects on Mars' magnetosphere. This multipoint data will clarify atmospheric loss that ended habitable conditions. 'The data collected will help clarify the causes and effects,' said Robert Lillis, principal investigator at UC Berkeley. The $80 million mission, with NASA paying $20 million for the launch, includes partners like Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Advanced Space.
Rocket Lab added easter eggs: plaques on solar panels with kiwi birds, the company logo, motto 'Non Sufficit Hic Orbis,' a bald eagle, and over 200 team names including CEO Peter Beck. 'Rocket Lab has a tradition of hiding kiwis in many areas of its design,' said Lindsay McLaurin, senior communications manager. Mission patches feature the partners and trajectories in blue and gold.