NASA ESCAPADE spacecraft complete powered Earth flybys en route to Mars

NASA's two ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) spacecraft have each successfully completed a powered Earth flyby, using Earth's gravity in combination with a sustained engine burn to slingshot themselves toward Mars. With these successful maneuvers complete, the twin spacecraft are on target to reach the Red Planet in September 2027.

The Flybys

The first spacecraft completed its close approach to Earth and its approximately 9-minute trans-Mars injection burn at 5 a.m. EST on Nov. 7, when it was about 1,000 miles above the planet's surface. The second spacecraft followed two days later, completing its close approach and engine burn at 6 a.m. EST on Nov. 9, when it was about 650 miles above the planet's surface.

"This is the first time NASA has used a powered Earth flyby to propel a spacecraft toward Mars, and we've now executed this maneuver twice, flawlessly, in just two days," said Asal Naseri, acting associate flight director for the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

Mission Path and Goals

The two ESCAPADE spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Nov. 13, 2025. After launch, both spacecraft entered a "loiter" or "Earth-proximity" orbit, charting a kidney-bean-shaped course around Lagrange point 2, a gravitational balancing point on the opposite side of Earth from the Sun, about a million miles from Earth. They then headed back toward Earth to perform the gravitational slingshot maneuver once Earth and Mars were favorably aligned.

"With this loiter orbit and Earth flyby, ESCAPADE is pioneering a new strategy for getting to Mars," said Jeff Parker of Advanced Space, lead mission designer. "This method provides the flexibility to launch almost anytime and then use Earth's gravity to get a boost to Mars, rather than waiting every two years to launch there directly when the planets are aligned."

These powered flybys set both spacecraft on course for their 10-month cruise to Mars, culminating with their Mars orbit insertion burns planned for Sept. 7 and Sept. 9, 2027. Once in orbit around Mars, the two spacecraft will fly in formation to study how the solar wind interacts with the Martian environment and how that drives atmospheric loss at Mars.

"By better understanding how the solar wind affects the Martian environment, ESCAPADE's findings could help us plan and prepare for future human exploration of the Red Planet," said Michele Cash, ESCAPADE program scientist at NASA Headquarters.

When they reach Mars, two days apart, each spacecraft will fire its engine for about 11 minutes to slow down and enter orbit around the planet. Science operations are expected to begin in June 2028. Six months later, the two spacecraft will shift into different orbits, with one traveling farther from Mars to observe the incoming solar wind and the other staying closer to the planet to study how Mars responds to the solar wind in real time. That science campaign is scheduled to last five months.

"This will be the first science mission to choreograph two orbiters around Mars, and the first time we will be able to make coordinated observations of the Martian environment from two different locations simultaneously," said ESCAPADE's principal investigator, Rob Lillis of the University of California, Berkeley.

Mission Partners

Funded by NASA's Heliophysics Division, ESCAPADE is part of the agency's SIMPLEx (Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration) program. The University of California, Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory leads the mission with key partners Rocket Lab; NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University; Advanced Space; and Blue Origin.

"The ESCAPADE mission continues the scientific legacy of historical Mars missions with a dedicated team driving new innovations for its journey to and at the Red Planet," said Skyler Kleinschmidt, ESCAPADE program executive at NASA Headquarters.

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Sources

• science.nasa.gov: NASA’s ESCAPADE Completes Powered Earth Flybys, Now En Route to Mars - NASA Science

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