Blue Origin New Glenn Mission NG-2 headed to Mars with NASA’s Escapade spacecraft

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Blue Origin’s New Glen NG-2 Mission successfully launched from Florida’s Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station en route to Mars with NASA’s Escapade spacecraft.

It comes after two launch attempts were scrubbed on Sunday and Wednesday – one due to weather and the other due to extreme solar activity amid the Northern Lights. You can watch a recap of the launch in the player above.

The rocket is also carrying a technology demonstration from Viasat.

The spacecraft is expected to reach the Red Planet by 2027.

ULA trying for nighttime launch

United Launch Alliance is also planning a launch on Thursday. 

The company is targeting a nighttime launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. An Atlas V rocket carrying a ViaSat high-capacity broadband satellite is set to launch from Space Launch Complex 41 at 10:04 p.m. ET.

ULA’s mission was delayed twice last week because of an issue with a booster liquid-oxygen tank vent valve. 

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on the Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral. (Credit: United Launch Alliance)

Space Coast nears 100 launches for the year

If Thursday’s launches are successful, they will get Florida’s Space Coast closer to reaching a record-setting 100 launches for the year. 

Blue Origin’s New Glenn mission and the Atlas V launch from ULA would become the 95th and 96th launches this year. The record set in 2024 was broken by SpaceX when its Starlink mission on Nov. 10 became the 94th of 2025.