NASA’s ESCAPADE mission, launched aboard a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket, is beginning a unique journey to uncover how Mars lost its atmosphere and became a desert world. The twin spacecraft will study how the solar wind—a relentless stream of particles from the Sun—strips away the Martian atmosphere, providing critical data on the planet’s drastic climate change.
This mission is pivotal for future human exploration, as understanding Martian space weather is essential for protecting astronauts and equipment. Unlike previous missions, ESCAPADE will not travel directly to Mars. Instead, it will first journey to a point a million miles from Earth, using a novel “loiter orbit” to wait for optimal planetary alignment. This trajectory allows it to become the first mission to pass through a distant part of Earth’s magnetotail before using a gravity assist from Earth to slingshot toward Mars in late 2026.
Expected to arrive in 2027, ESCAPADE will be the first dual-spacecraft mission to orbit another planet. Initially flying in tandem like a “string of pearls,” the probes will measure how space weather changes over short periods. Later, they will separate into different orbits to simultaneously study the solar wind and Mars’ upper atmosphere, giving scientists a real-time, stereo view of the planet’s interaction with space.
The mission is a collaborative effort involving NASA, UC Berkeley, Rocket Lab, and other partners, funded by NASA’s Heliophysics Division. It represents a new model for interplanetary travel, potentially enabling future missions to launch nearly anytime and queue in space, rather than waiting for brief, two-year launch windows. By revealing the secrets of Mars’ past and present space environment, ESCAPADE will blaze a trail for the first humans to set foot on the Red Planet.
