Nasa has revealed its plans to use Blue Origin's recently developed 'New Glenn' heavy-lift rocket to blast off its dual spacecraft for the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (Escapade) Mars mission.
New Glenn is the rocket designed by Blue Origin to compete with SpaceX's Falcon Heavy. The rocket's first flight was originally scheduled for late 2021, but this was subsequently pushed back and is still yet to take place.
Despite the lack of mission experience, the rocket has been chosen to launch Nasa's spacecraft in late 2024 from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The twin Escapade spacecrafts will take around 11 months to reach their Mars orbit, where they will capture data from the planet's magnetosphere and its interactions with solar radiation.
“Escapade follows a long tradition of Nasa Mars science and exploration missions and we’re thrilled Nasa’s Launch Services Program has selected New...