NASA's ESCAPADE twins fly a powered Earth flyby to head for Mars
68 FOMONASA's two ESCAPADE spacecraft, launched on Blue Origin's New Glenn in November 2025 and parked near Sun-Earth L2 for a year, return to Earth for powered flybys on Nov. 7 and Nov. 9, 2026. Each fires its engine for about 9 minutes over southern Australia at closest approach, 600 to 1,100 miles up, adding more than 1,000 mph and sending it toward Mars. They arrive Sept. 7 and Sept. 9, 2027, to study how the solar wind strips the Martian atmosphere.
Why it matters
NASA says no agency spacecraft has flown this kind of powered Earth flyby, and no Mars-bound one has used it. That matters beyond science: the loiter-then-slingshot route frees Mars missions from the 26-month launch windows. It's an $80M, Rocket Lab-built mission, cheap enough that the playbook can be copied.
The numbers
Money
Details
Mission
- Vehicle
- New Glenn (launched Nov 13, 2025)
- Orbit
- Sun-Earth L2 loiter → powered Earth flyby → trans-Mars
Science
- Target
- mars
- Significance
- First multi-spacecraft formation around Mars; atmospheric escape driven by the solar wind
Coverage
-
science.nasa.gov ·
NASA's Twin ESCAPADE Spacecraft to Slingshot Past Earth on Way to MarsBoth ESCAPADE spacecraft make powered Earth flybys on Nov. 7 and 9, each burning about 9 minutes over southern Australia to head for Mars, arriving in September 2027.
-
space.com ·
Next stop, not Mars: Why NASA's twin ESCAPADE probes are taking the long way to the Red Planet after Blue Origin launchLaunched on New Glenn's second flight, the Rocket Lab-built Blue and Gold probes wait a year near L2, then use a November 2026 Earth flyby to reach Mars orbit in September 2027.
More from NASA
- NASA · Milestone 62
NASA's Venus missions are back on track: DAVINCI targets 2030, VERITAS 2032
- NASA · Regulatory 72
Space Force Awards Space Domain Awareness IDIQ to 14 Commercial Companies
- NASA · Launch 97
Artemis II Launches — First Crewed Deep Space Flight Since Apollo 17
- NASA · Mission 90
NASA Sets Artemis II Launch Window for Early April 2026
- NASA · Policy 84
NASA Outlines Plans for Nuclear Power on Moon and Mars
- NASA · Regulatory 82
NASA Cancels/De-scopes Lunar Gateway to Prioritize Lunar Surface Base
Related moments
- Blue Origin · Launch 88
New Glenn NG-2 Achieves Full Mission Success, Lands Booster at Sea
Veenie.Space Telemetry
NASA's two ESCAPADE spacecraft, launched on Blue Origin's New Glenn in November 2025 and parked near