In early October 2025, Jeff Bezos’ aerospace company, Blue Origin, transported the first stage of its second New Glenn rocket to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. This significant move prepares the rocket for its upcoming launch in late October or November, which will carry NASA’s twin ESCAPADE probes on their journey to Mars. Blue Origin has confirmed that the NG-2 mission is slated for later this fall. When fully assembled, the New Glenn rocket stands impressively at approximately 98 meters (320 feet) tall.
New Glenn Rocket Capabilities
The first stage of the New Glenn rocket is powered by seven BE-4 engines, which use methane and liquid oxygen as propellants. The rocket’s second, upper stage is equipped with two BE-3U engines, fueled by hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Blue Origin aims to fully recover and reuse the first stage of the NG-2 mission, a practice that mirrors the reusability seen in some SpaceX rockets. While New Glenn’s maiden flight in January 2025 successfully reached orbit, the first-stage booster’s landing attempt was unsuccessful.
A successful NG-2 mission would mark a pivotal moment, as it would be the New Glenn rocket’s inaugural deep-space mission, proving its robust capabilities for ambitious interstellar travel.
The Mars-Bound ESCAPADE Mission
The Blue Origin New Glenn rocket is set to transport NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission to Mars. The ESCAPADE mission consists of two identical satellites, nicknamed Blue and Gold, which were built by Rocket Lab. These probes arrived at Florida’s Space Coast in September for their final preparations. Their primary objective is to study how the Martian atmosphere interacts with solar wind and space weather, providing crucial data for scientists to understand the process by which Mars loses its atmospheric gases to space.