Lead
Blue Origin’s New Glenn successfully launched NASA’s ESCAPADE twin-spacecraft mission on Nov. 13 from Cape Canaveral, and the rocket’s first stage made the first successful recovery for the vehicle family. Liftoff occurred at 3:55 p.m. Eastern from Launch Complex 36 after an earlier, minute-long scrub and an aborted attempt about an hour before the successful launch. The upper stage delivered the two ESCAPADE probes to a departure trajectory, and the first stage—nicknamed “Never Tell Me The Odds”—touched down on the recovery ship Jacklyn about 9 minutes and 15 seconds after liftoff.
Key Takeaways
- Launch date and time: New Glenn NG-2 lifted off Nov. 13 at 3:55 p.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
- Booster recovery: The New Glenn first stage shut down after ~3 minutes, reentered, and landed on the ship Jacklyn 9 minutes 15 seconds after liftoff—the booster’s first successful recovery.
- Primary payload: NASA’s ESCAPADE twin spacecraft (Blue and Gold), each ~1 meter on a side and 535 kg fully fueled, separated about 33 minutes after liftoff, roughly 30 seconds apart.
- Mission trajectory: ESCAPADE will first transit to the Earth–Sun L2 point 1.5 million km from Earth, loiter in a halo-like path for about a year, then return for a Mars transfer maneuver; Mars arrival is expected in September 2027.
- Secondary payload: A Viasat payload for NASA’s Communications Services Project rode the upper stage and remained attached after payload separation.
- Program history: ESCAPADE was selected in 2019 under NASA’s SIMPLEx portfolio; it was removed from NG-1 in Sept. 2024 and flown on NG-2 after trajectory redesign by Advanced Space.
- Cost and risk: ESCAPADE’s spacecraft costs were described in the “$60 million category,” and the launch slip from 2024 reportedly added $5–7 million in expenses.
Background
New Glenn is Blue Origin’s large orbital launcher; NG-2 was the rocket’s second flight following the inaugural NG-1 mission in January 2025. The first flight failed to relight the first-stage engines for a recovery attempt, so NG-2 represented the program’s first real opportunity to demonstrate repeatable booster reuse. Blue Origin has given the booster the informal name “Never Tell Me The Odds,” and it employs seven BE-4 methane/oxygen engines on the first stage.
ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) was selected by NASA in 2019 as a low-cost SIMPLEx class mission to study Martian space weather. Originally slated to hitch a ride on the Psyche launch, mission planning changed after Psyche’s launch profile evolved; ESCAPADE was redesigned in partnership with Rocket Lab and later matched to New Glenn for launch. SIMPLEx missions accept higher technical risk to reduce cost and shorten development schedules.
Main Event
The countdown for NG-2 included multiple schedule slips: a Nov. 9 attempt was scrubbed for weather and pad equipment issues, a Nov. 12 attempt was called off citing elevated solar activity, and an attempt roughly an hour before the successful liftoff was halted 20 seconds before ignition for an undisclosed technical issue. After clearing those holds, New Glenn liftoff occurred at 3:55 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 13 from Launch Complex 36.
About three minutes into flight the first stage shut down its seven BE-4 engines and separated from the upper stage. The booster performed a reentry burn and a landing burn and then touched down on the deck of the recovery ship Jacklyn in the Atlantic Ocean at T+9 minutes 15 seconds—marking the first time a New Glenn first stage landed successfully. Blue Origin had attempted a landing on NG-1 but experienced an engine relight failure.
The New Glenn upper stage executed a second burn and delivered the ESCAPADE pair to a departure trajectory; the two spacecraft separated about 33 minutes after liftoff, about 30 seconds apart. A Viasat-built secondary payload intended to test commercial relay technology for NASA’s Communications Services Project remained attached to the upper stage after ESCAPADE separation.
Analysis & Implications
Booster recovery on NG-2 is an important technical milestone for Blue Origin. A reliable, reusable first stage is central to lowering launch costs and raising flight cadence; a second-flight recovery shifts New Glenn from demonstration toward operational capability. If Blue Origin sustains repeatable recoveries, New Glenn could become a regular entrant for medium-to-heavy-class missions, affecting market dynamics with SpaceX and United Launch Alliance.
For NASA and the planetary science community, ESCAPADE represents two linked developments: first, a demonstration that small, university-led investigations can reach interplanetary targets on a modest budget; second, an operational test of new mission architectures such as extended L2 loiter followed by a return-to-Earth gravity-assist/transfer to Mars. Those trajectory choices increase flight time and exposure to the space environment, which the team accepted under a Class D risk posture to preserve cost and schedule advantages.
The mission also advances NASA’s strategy to leverage commercial communications providers. The Viasat payload tests concepts intended to shift some relay responsibilities from NASA-operated assets to commercial networks, which could lower long-term operations costs but requires validation of reliability and interoperability across agencies and companies.
Comparison & Data
| Item | NG-1 (Inaugural) | NG-2 (This Flight) |
|---|---|---|
| Launch date | January 2025 | Nov. 13 (liftoff 3:55 p.m. ET) |
| Booster recovery | Attempted; engine relight failed | Successful landing on Jacklyn at T+9:15 |
| Primary payload | Blue Origin demonstration payload (upper stage) | NASA ESCAPADE twin spacecraft (2 × 535 kg) |
| ESCAPADE Mars arrival | — | Expected September 2027 |
The table highlights the shift from a demonstration flight on NG-1 to an operational success with NG-2. ESCAPADE’s use of an Earth–Sun L2 loiter and later Mars transfer is an uncommon profile for a SIMPLEx mission but enabled the team to exploit a non-resonant launch date between traditional Mars windows.
Reactions & Quotes
Blue Origin executives framed NG-2 as both a technical success and a signal of higher cadence to come. Company leaders emphasized manufacturing progress and plans to increase flight rate while delivering for commercial and government customers.
“We achieved full mission success today… This is just the beginning as we rapidly scale our flight cadence,”
Dave Limp, Blue Origin CEO (post-launch statement)
New Glenn program management noted the work to improve production rate and manifest management as priorities going forward, stressing that manifest health is key to sustained operations.
“We’ve made significant progress on manufacturing at rate and building ahead of need,”
Jordan Charles, VP for New Glenn, Blue Origin (statement)
NASA officials and the science team highlighted ESCAPADE’s science return and its place in the SIMPLEx portfolio as an example of lower-cost interplanetary exploration, while acknowledging the higher risk profile accepted for this mission class.
“We waited a long time for this,”
Nicky Fox, NASA Associate Administrator for Science (pre-launch webcast)
Unconfirmed
- Exact cause of the 20-second pre-launch abort before the successful Nov. 13 liftoff has not been publicly disclosed and remains under review.
- Details on whether the pad ground-support equipment issue reported during the Nov. 9 attempt was fully resolved before the successful launch have not been confirmed by an independent source.
- Operational plans for the Viasat secondary payload beyond its initial in-orbit tests—specifically whether it will remain attached for mission-long experiments—have not been fully disclosed.
Bottom Line
NG-2’s successful liftoff, payload delivery and first-stage recovery mark a milestone for Blue Origin and for NASA’s use of a new commercial launcher. The booster landing demonstrates the vehicle’s potential to reach routine reusability, a key factor for lowering costs and increasing manifest flexibility for medium-to-heavy payloads.
ESCAPADE’s nontraditional trajectory—L2 loiter then a Mars transfer—and its low-cost, university-led model make it an important test case for future planetary science campaigns. The mission will provide multi-point measurements of Martian space weather when it arrives in September 2027 and will help validate commercial communication relay concepts.
Observers should watch for Blue Origin’s post-flight data on engine relight reliability and recovery hardware, NASA’s characterization of ESCAPADE commissioning outcomes in the weeks after launch, and the results of the Viasat relay tests that may influence future relay architectures.
Sources
- SpaceNews — media report with launch chronology and mission details (journalism)
- Blue Origin webcast / company statements — official company webcast and post-launch releases (official/company)
- UC Berkeley Space Sciences Lab — ESCAPADE principal investigator and mission science context (academic/research)
- Rocket Lab — spacecraft builder and mission partner commentary (industry)