- Blue Origin successfully landed its New Glenn booster on an ocean barge after launching NASA’s Escapade mission.
- The booster’s recovery marks progress in reusable rocket technology, positioning Blue Origin closer to competition with SpaceX.
- The launch had been delayed due to a severe solar storm, which posed risks to the spacecraft’s electronics.
- The twin ESCAPADE probes will study Mars’ atmosphere and solar wind effects during a mission lasting until 2027.
On Thursday, Blue Origin achieved the first successful ocean barge landing of its New Glenn booster. The launch took place at 3:55 p.m. ET from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The rocket carried NASA’s twin ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration Dynamics Explorers) probes bound for a Mars mission (source).
The mission had been postponed earlier in the week due to a severe solar storm, which caused NASA to halt the launch to avoid damage to the spacecraft’s electronics. About three minutes after liftoff, New Glenn’s stages separated. The booster then descended toward the recovery ship, Jacklyn, stationed approximately 375 miles into the Atlantic Ocean. Seven minutes into the flight, the booster’s three BE-4 engines reignited for the final braking burn. This allowed the stage to land safely on the deck (source).
This successful booster landing came after a failed attempt in January, when the engines rotated into position but did not ignite. The recovery achievement is a significant milestone, bringing Blue Origin closer to competing with SpaceX, which pioneered reusable rocket boosters with its Falcon 9 program nearly a decade ago.
The New Glenn stands over 320 feet tall and can carry between 13 and 45 metric tons (approximately 14 to 50 tons) per launch. Blue Origin designed the rocket for at least 25 missions, targeting government and commercial spaceflight contracts, including Amazon’s Project Kuiper.
NASA’s primary objective was to launch the ESCAPADE mission. Built by Rocket Lab and UC Berkeley, the twin spacecraft are set to orbit Earth for a year before traveling to Mars in 2026 (source). They will study how Mars’ ionosphere varies and how solar wind strips the planet’s atmosphere. The probes are expected to arrive by 2027 and spend about 11 months investigating these processes.
“Understanding how the ionosphere varies will be a really important part of understanding how to correct the distortions in radio signals that we will need to communicate with each other and to navigate on Mars,” said UC Berkeley ESCAPADE principal investigator Robert Lillis (Gold-will-launch-in-early-november/”>source).
NASA Administrator Sean Duffy highlighted the mission’s importance in preparing for future Mars exploration and studying solar eruptions affecting the Martian surface.
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