Blue Origin has announced that the second launch of its New Glenn rocket is scheduled for November 9th. This mission, designated NG-2, will carry a pair of NASA Mars spacecraft.

The company made the formal announcement on November 5th, stating that the launch will take place from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 36. Liftoff is expected to occur around 2:45 p.m. Eastern time. This marks the first New Glenn flight since the inaugural launch in January.

The primary payload for this flight is NASA’s Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers, or ESCAPADE, mission. This mission comprises twin small satellites constructed by Rocket Lab and operated by the University of California Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory. The mission's objective is to investigate the interaction between the solar wind and Mars’ magnetic field and upper atmosphere.

“We will be making the space weather measurements we need to understand the system well enough to forecast solar storms whose radiation could harm astronauts on the surface of Mars or in orbit,” said Rob Lillis, ESCAPADE’s principal investigator at SSL, in a statement.

ESCAPADE was initially planned for launch last October on the first New Glenn mission. However, due to delays in the vehicle's development, NASA removed the mission from that launch manifest. The inaugural New Glenn launch in January carried a Blue Origin technology demonstration payload that remained attached to the upper stage.

This launch occurs outside the typical Mars mission launch windows. Instead, ESCAPADE will utilize a unique trajectory that involves a year-long stay near the Earth-sun L2 Lagrange point before an Earth flyby in November 2026, ultimately reaching Mars in 2027.

“Can we launch to Mars when the planets are not aligned? ESCAPADE is paving the way for that,” said Jeffrey Parker, chief technology officer at Advanced Space, during a presentation at the Small Satellite Conference in August.

In addition to ESCAPADE, Viasat will conduct tests of telemetry and data relay services with a user terminal mounted on the rocket. This demonstration falls under NASA’s Communications Services Project.

“NG-1’s goal was clear: reach orbit, everything after that was a bonus,” said Dave Limp, chief executive of Blue Origin, in a social media post. “NG-2 builds on that with our primary goal to get ESCAPADE safely to orbit and land the booster.”

Blue Origin previously attempted to land the New Glenn first stage during NG-1, but an engine malfunction prevented the landing. The company remains optimistic about a successful landing on NG-2.

“What if we don’t stick the landing? That’s OK. We’ve got several more New Glenn boosters already in production,” Limp said.