NewsBytes Explainer: Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket heads to Mars
On November 13, 2025, Blue Origin pulled off a big moment—its massive New Glenn rocket landed safely on the "Jacklyn" droneship in the Atlantic, just nine minutes after blasting off from Cape Canaveral.
The rocket was carrying NASA's ESCAPADE twin spacecraft, which are now headed to Mars to study how Mars loses its atmosphere to space and the processes controlling atmospheric escape.
This marks only the second time New Glenn has flown to orbit and highlights Blue Origin's push for rockets you can use again and again.
How New Glenn returned to Earth after launch
The first stage of New Glenn uses seven BE-4 engines running on methane and liquid oxygen, putting out a huge 9 million pounds of thrust at launch.
After sending its payload on its way, the booster reignited its engines and made a controlled landing 604km downrange.
It's built to fly up to 25 times—helping cut costs and speed up future launches.
What is the ESCAPADE mission?
After launch, ESCAPADE was sent toward Mars from an Earth-Moon orbit and will spend nearly two years studying how Mars loses its atmosphere.
With room for much heavier payloads (up to 45 metric tons) thanks to its giant fairing, New Glenn is set to play a major role in NASA's plans for exploring other planets.