Blue Origin delays New Glenn's Mars mission to mid-October

Technology Sep 27, 2025

Blue Origin has pushed its second New Glenn rocket launch to mid-October 2025. This mission is a big deal—it's New Glenn's first trip beyond Earth, carrying NASA's ESCAPADE probes to study Mars.
Before liftoff, the team will run a crucial hot-fire test of the rocket at Launch Complex-36 in mid-October.

ESCAPADE is NASA's $80 million mission

ESCAPADE is an $80 million NASA mission, operated by UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory, sending two Rocket Lab-built satellites to explore Mars's magnetosphere.
These probes were supposed to fly earlier but waited until New Glenn proved itself with a successful first launch.
There's also a Viasat tech demo hitching a ride, aiming to boost satellite networking for future missions—another step forward if all goes well.