Preparations for the second-ever launch of Blue Origin’s highly effective New Glenn rocket are underway on Florida’s Space Coast, as NASA’s twin ESCAPADE probes await their mission to Mars.
Blue Origin had initially focused no sooner than Sept. 29 for the second New Glenn launch, designated NG-2, however now says the mission is slated for NET mid-October. The rocket’s ESCAPADE payload is awaiting automobile integration at Blue Origin’s Astrotech Space Operations Facility in Titusville, Florida, whereas New Glenn’s first stage (GS1) booster is prepped for an engine take a look at at Launch Complex-36 (LC-36).
“ESCAPADE is at Astrotech and GS1 is headed to LC-36 in early October. Next up is the vehicle hotfire mid-month with launch soon thereafter,” Blue Origin wrote in a post on social media.
NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) probes have been patiently ready their flip for a experience to house for greater than a yr. The pair was slated to launch as part of New Glenn’s debut mission, however NASA ended up deciding to not threat its subsequent flight to Mars on an unproven rocket.
The twin satellites had been constructed by California-based Rocket Lab, and will likely be operated by the University of California’s Space Sciences Laboratory as soon as they attain orbit.
Satisfied with Blue Origin’s outcomes from New Glenn’s first liftoff, ESCAPADE was added again to the manifest and assigned because the rocket’s second mission.
It’s a excessive profile venture for New Glenn, and is indicative of the extent of confidence NASA has within the launch automobile. The $80 million ESCAPADE mission will likely be New Glenn’s first interplanetary launch and is headed to Mars orbit. There, the probes will research the planet’s magnetosphere and analyze how energetic photo voltaic wind particles work together with the Martian environment.
New Glenn’s first launch successfully delivered a test version of Blue Origin’s Blue Ring satellite bus to Earth orbit, but failed to recover the rocket’s nearly 189-foot-tall (58-meter-tall) first stage booster during its landing attempt on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean. Blue Origin plans to attempt a recovery the GS1 booster as part of the upcoming launch as well.
NG-2 will also carry a secondary payload. Satellite communications company Viasat is flying a technology demonstration as a part of NASA’s Communications Services Project, which companions with the business sector to evolve networking applied sciences for near-Earth satellites.