Twin NASA Probes Set for Ride to Red Planet

NASA’s twin ESCAPADE spacecraft have arrived back in Florida ahead of their planned launch to Mars this autumn.

The identical probes will orbit the Red Planet to study the structure of its magnetic field, its interaction with solar and space weather, and how those processes strip away the Martian atmosphere. Scientists say the data will help protect future robotic and crewed missions to Mars.

The spacecraft arrived at the Astrotech Space Operations Facility in Titusville, Florida, on 16 September from Rocket Lab’s headquarters and production complex in Long Beach, California, where they were designed, built and tested.

ESCAPADE had previously been shipped to Florida in 2024 for an earlier launch attempt but returned to California after NASA decided to stand down.

Rocket Lab engineers will now complete inspections, functional tests and propellant loading in Astrotech’s cleanroom before the spacecraft are integrated with their launch vehicle.

Launch is scheduled no earlier than this autumn on Blue Origin’s new heavy-lift New Glenn rocket.