Space News Pod

On February 9th, NASA announced that it had selected Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket to launch two Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) spacecraft to Mars. This marks the first NASA award for New Glenn, a large rocket that Blue Origin has been working on for several years but has yet to launch. The award, a task order under NASA’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) contract, is valued at $20 million, with $6 million already obligated to date. Neither NASA nor Blue Origin provided additional details about the award. Blue Origin did not respond to questions about the award, including whether the launch would be a dedicated mission or if the ESCAPADE spacecraft will fly as rideshare payloads on another mission. ESCAPADE is part of NASA's Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program, cost-capped at $55 million each. NASA selected ESCAPADE in 2019 as one of three missions in the program, envisioning launching all three as rideshares on ot