ESCAPADE will launch on the Blue Origin New Glenn vehicle in Fall 2025. It will go into a ~1-year, kidney bean-shaped Earth-proximity phase before returning to a low-altitude perigee for a Trans-Mars Injection (TMI) engine burn. This burn in November 2026, taking advantage of the Oberth Effect, sends Blue and Gold on their way to Mars.
We execute a typical ballistic Hohmann Type 2 interplanetary trajectory, with several trajectory correction maneuvers (TCMs), arriving at Mars in September 2027.
Mars Orbit Insertion puts Blue and Gold into a large capture orbit:
We spend the next few months (late 2027 and early 2028) reducing and synchronizing the orbits of Blue and Gold. Below show the radius of both apoapsis (highest point) and periapsis (lowest point).
In late Spring 2028, we begin our science mission, which consists of two science campaigns:
