NASA's ESCAPADE spacecraft to perform Earth flybys on route to Mars

NASA's ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission is scheduled to perform a series of maneuvers involving Earth flybys to propel two spacecraft toward Mars. The mission involves two spacecraft that will execute a "powered" flyby of Earth, a maneuver that combines Earth’s gravity with an engine burn to slingshot the craft toward its destination.

Scheduled Flybys and Maneuvers

The first spacecraft is scheduled to conduct its flyby and engine burn around 5 a.m. EST on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026. The second spacecraft will perform its maneuver two days later, around 6 a.m. EST on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. During these flybys, the spacecraft will perform a "trans-Mars injection burn," which involves firing the engine for approximately 9 minutes at the point of closest approach to Earth.

According to NASA, this trans-Mars injection burn will increase the speed of each spacecraft by more than 1,000 miles per hour, moving from approximately 6.3 miles per second to about 6.7 miles per second. This speed increase is equivalent to moving from about Mach 30 to Mach 31.

At their closest approach to Earth, the spacecraft—each roughly the size of a standard refrigerator—will be positioned between 600 and 1,100 miles above the planet's surface. The engine burns will occur as the spacecraft fly over southern Australia. The first spacecraft's burn is expected to begin at 4:51 a.m. EST (8:51 p.m. AEDT) on Nov. 7, while the second will begin at 5:51 a.m. EST (9:51 p.m. AEDT) on Nov. 9.

Mission Trajectory and Objectives

ESCAPADE is utilizing a unique route to reach Mars. Because the spacecraft launched in November 2025 when Earth and Mars were on opposite sides of the Sun, the mission team used an "Earth-proximity" or "loiter" orbit around the Earth-Sun Lagrange point 2 (L2). This allowed the spacecraft to return to Earth in November 2026 to use Earth's gravity for propulsion.

While other spacecraft have used Earth flybys to reach different parts of the solar system, NASA states that no Mars-bound spacecraft has successfully executed a powered flyby, also known as an Oberth maneuver.

Following the successful flybys, the spacecraft will begin a 10-month cruise to Mars. They are expected to arrive at the Red Planet on Sept. 7 and Sept. 9, 2027, respectively. Once there, ESCAPADE will become the first multi-spacecraft mission to fly in formation around Mars. The mission's scientific goal is to study how the solar wind, a million-mile-per-hour stream of material from the Sun, interacts with the Martian environment and contributes to atmospheric loss at Mars.

Observation and Future Adjustments

Observers on the ground may be able to spot the spacecraft using telescopes, as they will appear as dim points moving against the stars. In the western U.S., the spacecraft should be visible until about an hour before the engine burns. The first spacecraft is expected to be brightest between midnight and 1 a.m. PST on Nov. 7, and the second between 1 and 2 a.m. PST on Nov. 9.

After the trans-Mars injection burns, the mission team will monitor the spacecraft's aim. The team plans to use multiple trajectory correction maneuvers to adjust the paths of the two spacecraft during the journey to ensure a precise rendezvous with Mars in September 2027.

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Sources

• science.nasa.gov: NASA’s Twin ESCAPADE Spacecraft to Slingshot Past Earth on Way to Mars - NASA Science

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