Blue Origin announced on Wednesday its plan for a second launch of the New Glenn heavy-lift rocket as early as November 9 from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission carries payloads for paying customers, including NASA’s twin ESCAPADE spacecraft bound for Mars.
The New Glenn rocket debuted in January with partial success. Its second stage reached orbit as intended, deploying payloads into space. However, the first stage encountered issues during descent and exploded before Blue Origin could execute the planned landing on an ocean drone ship. Engineers analyzed the anomaly to prepare for subsequent flights.
Blue Origin initially targeted late spring for the second launch earlier this year. Delays occurred multiple times due to technical preparations and safety verifications. The company emphasized caution for this mission, given the inclusion of customer payloads requiring reliable performance.
Key cargo includes NASA’s ESCAPADE mission, consisting of two identical spacecraft designed to study Mars’ magnetosphere. These probes will orbit the planet to gather data on solar wind interactions with the atmosphere. Additionally, a technology demonstrator from Viasat will test advanced communication systems in space. This flight marks Blue Origin’s first operational New Glenn mission with commercial and scientific payloads.
