EscalaPADE Mission To Launch In Fall This Year
NASA is preparing for the launch of the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorer (EscaPADE) mission. The small satellite will launch on Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket. At the 45th Scientific Assembly Space Research Committee event held on July 15, reported by Spacenews, Rob Lilis of the California Berkeley University Space Science Laboratory said that the EscalaPADE mission will launch in the fall of this year. NASA will launch twin satellites with the names Blue and Gold to orbit Mars. While circling the Red Planet, these two satellites will carry instruments to study the Mars magnetosphere and the interaction between those atmospheres with the solar wind. Although on the presentation slide it is stated that EscaPADE will launch in September, Lilis said that the entire launch window for Mars' mission has been extended to October. If EscaPADE has been successfully launched in the fall of this year, the satellite for the mission will arrive on Mars in September next year. The mission will start running in April 2026 and its observations will run for a year.
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In addition to observing the magnetosphere, EscalaPADE will be a demonstration mission for the launch of small low-cost satellites. This spacecraft is part of a planet exploration program called SIMPLEx. In addition to launching Blue and Gold via the EscalaPADE mission, NASA will launch Janus and Lunar Trailblazer satellites via rideshare missions. Janus launch is being delayed until an unspecified schedule, while Lunar Trailblazer will be flown at the end of this year.