NASA ESCAPADE

New Glenn NG-2 standing ready to launch on November 9 with omnipresent gray clouds lurking in the background. They would soon bring rain. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
New Glenn NG-2 standing ready to launch on November 9 with omnipresent gray clouds lurking in the background. They would soon bring rain. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
New Glenn NG-2 standing ready to launch on November 9 with omnipresent gray clouds lurking in the background. They would soon bring rain. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

Blue Origin called off the highly anticipated first launch of its New Glenn rocket on Sunday afternoon, citing poor weather conditions at Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 36. It was a day when the sun and rain alternated, and sometimes the sun would stay out while it was raining: call it sunny rain. That proved to be unacceptable to the launch team, and a scrub was called just at the end of the launch window, around 4:15 PM ET.

Blue Origin will recycle and reset, planning for the next attempt for a launch on Wednesday afternoon. The window opens at 2:50 PM ET, and extends to 4:17 the same day.

This Launch Had Everything

It’s rare to say that a launch countdown is an adventure, but this one was — it had everything: rain, then sun, then more rain, fishing boats fouling the range, then the fishing boat losing one of two of its motors and having to limp out to a safe area, and finally, once the fishermen were safely north of the exclusion area, a cruise ship ignoring the Notice to Mariners advisory and heading out into the range, temporarily fouling it in their rush to head to sea with thousands of vacationers aboard.

The first part, weather, you could follow with your own eyes if you were watching from close by. The second, boats and ships in the exclusion area, was a drama easily followed on Channel 16 of the marine band. The weather was shifting often as a steady line of storms between Titusville and Daytona Beach would move south, then drift north. The boat captains were generally cooperative and jocular. The cruise ship? Silent on the channels we were monitoring.

Blue Origin had their own water security team to help keep the range clear. They had a busy day yesterday, starting in the morning when New Glenn started its propellant load. Look closely, and you could see him checking us out closely, even though we were outside any closed areas.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

Crowds were heavy, with Jetty Park and Cherie Down Park in Cape Canaveral reaching capacity despite the weather. The beaches were lined with spectators as well, with everyone looking forward to the sight of the 322-foot rocket lumbering skyward. It was not to be on this day, but few grumbles were heard from anyone.

Jetty Park Pier was lined solid with launch spectators mixed in with the press. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

At A Glance

Countdown to Window Open T–00:00:00 Opens: Nov 12, 2025, 2:50 PM
New Glenn | ESCAPADE — Launch Details
Field Details
Mission New Glenn | EscaPADE Go for Launch!
Window Opens Wednesday, 11/12/2025 2:50:00 PM
Window Closes Wednesday, 11/12/2025 4:17:00 PM
Organization Blue Origin
Location Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Rocket New Glenn
Pad Launch Complex 36A
Status Go for Launch
Status Info Current T-0 confirmed by official or reliable sources.
Destination Mars Orbit
Mission Description Second flight of Blue Origin's New Glenn launch vehicle carrying the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE), a dual-spacecraft mission from University of California, Berkeley to study ion and sputtered escape from Mars. The spacecrafts' scientific goals are to understand the processes controlling the structure of Mars' hybrid magnetosphere and how it guides ion flows; understand how energy and momentum are transported from the solar wind through Mars' magnetosphere; and understand the processes controlling the flow of energy and matter into and out of the collisional atmosphere.
As of …

Weather

The 45th Weather Squadron has released their L-2 forecast for New Glenn's second launch attempt:

The offshore landing area remains an area of concern and may yet affect the second launch attempt. We'll see. The 45th will issue another Launch Mission Execution Forecast tomorrow.

New Glenn NG-2 ready for launch on November 9, 2025. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
New Glenn NG-2 ready for launch on November 9, 2025. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
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New Glenn NG-1 standing tall at LC-36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station earlier this year. In the foreground is the lightkeeper’s house at the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse.

Blue Origin has delayed the launch of its second New Glenn rocket to no earlier than Sept. 29. After flying a successful mission in January, Blue had stated that the target date for NG-2 was first in “late spring,” and later adjusted to NET August 15.

The prime mission for the launch is NASA’s ESCAPADE mission. New Glenn will carry two small satellites tasked with studying the Martian magnetosphere, and will be New Glenn’s first interplanetary mission and the first multi-spacecraft orbital science mission aimed at Mars. NG-2 will also carry a technology demonstration payload for ViaSat, in support of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate’s Communications Services Project.

A tertiary goal for this mission will be a successful landing of the New Glenn first stage on the company’s landing platform, which will be stationed downrange offshore in the Atlantic. Blue plans to fly as many as 25 missions with each booster, targeting significant cost reduction and operational efficiency for each flight, and is considered to be a necessity for the long-term financial viability of the company.

Blue Origin's recovery ship, Jacklyn
Blue Origin’s recovery ship, Jacklyn, while docked in Port Canaveral. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville

Finally, a successful second flight will serve as another technology demonstration for future customers, namely the Department of Defense, NASA and Amazon. Blue was awarded National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 2 heavy-lift provider status, and is a $2.4 billion contract for the company. Amazon has also contracted New Glenn for at least 12 launches of its Project Kuiper satellites, and Blue Origin itself is building out its first lunar lander, Blue Moon Mk1, part of its lunar lander services contract with NASA and the Artemis Program. That spacecraft will need a ride on New Glenn as well.

Whether Blue launches in September remains to be seen. Delays in new launch systems are hardly uncommon, and on its second flight, Blue Origin has a full plate payload and operations-wise. To successfully achieve each objective, the company will be sure to double, triple, quadruple check every component and procedure leading up to the launch, and then they’ll probably check again after that just to be sure. That takes time, and if any issues are found, it will take time to resolve them. The old axiom of “fly only when you’re ready” still applies.

So, as always, stay tuned. There’s more to come.

Blue Origin New Glenn launch
Blue Origin’s New Glenn on its debut launch in January. Photo: Charles Boyer / Talk of Titusville
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