The US Aerospace Agency is planning a science mission to Mars and has already secured an agreement with Blue Origin, which will launch on the New Glenn spacecraft. This is the first such government contract of its kind, and the most interesting thing is that the launch vehicle has not even passed flight tests yet.
New Glenn is a larger version of the New Shepard suborbital rocket, which has already taken several celebrities and the rich as tourists to the edge of space. It is believed that New Glenn will compete with SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, as well as rockets from other developers. It’s been ten years since Blue Origin started developing their heavy rocket, but it still hasn’t gotten around to flying, let alone ready for a Martian mission. Initially, the first flight of New Glenn was scheduled for the end of 2021, but the date was postponed, allegedly due to a broken contract. Then the launch was scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2022, but it did not take place either.
The $300 million contract was awarded under the NASA Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) program. This money will be divided among 13 companies for the performance of certain tasks. The Blue Origin mission is called Escapade, a study of the Martian magnetosphere using two spacecraft being developed by Rocket Lab. The tentative launch date is 2024, but that is likely to change as the rocket they’re supposed to fly into space is still under construction. In fact, Blue Origin and Rocket Lab compete with each other, but the latter does not have suitable carriers – only rockets of the ultra-light Electron class, and they are not suitable for this mission.
The two Rocket Lab spacecraft will complete an 11-month interplanetary journey before entering elliptical orbits around Mars. NASA wants to understand the structure, composition, variability and dynamics of the Red Planet’s unique magnetosphere in order to further use the obtained data in manned missions.
Source: Trash Box
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