**Customer:** [[NASA]] >[!summary] >In 2021 Rocket Lab was awarded a subcontract by the [[University of California Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory]] (UCBSSL) to design two [[Photon]] spacecraft for a scientific mission to Mars. The Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) mission, led by Rob Lillis at UCBSSL, is a twin-spacecraft science mission that will orbit two spacecraft around Mars to understand the structure, composition, variability, and dynamics of Mars' unique hybrid magnetosphere. The mission will leverage its unique dual viewpoint on the Mars environment to explore how the solar wind strips atmosphere away from Mars to better understand how its climate has changed over time. ESCAPADE is being developed under [NASA’s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx)](https://soma.larc.nasa.gov/simplex/) program in the Science Mission Directorate (SMD). The mission is led by UCBSSL with spacecraft design provided by Rocket Lab. The two spacecraft were originally planned for launch in 2024 to Mars ridesharing aboard a [[NASA]]-provided commercial launch vehicle (New Glenn) but delays from [[Blue Origin]] pushed the mission. > >🔗 https://science.nasa.gov/mission/escapade/ >🔗 https://spaceflightnow.com/2024/08/16/rocket-labs-mars-bound-twin-satellites-blue-and-gold-hit-the-road-ahead-for-blue-origin-launch/ EscaPADE is a twin-spacecraft [[⚖️ NASA Mission and Instrument Risk Classification#Class D|Class D]] mission dedicated to studying the transfer of solar wind energy and momentum through Mars’ unique hybrid magnetosphere and how it drives ion and sputtering escape. Graphic: University of California, Berkeley ![[Pasted image 20250119154242.jpg]] ## 🛰️ Spacecraft Rocket Lab used what became their [[Explorer]] platform as the basis for the twin spacecraft ![[Pasted image 20250119153937.jpg]] ![[Pasted image 20250119154035.jpg]] ## 📰 News %% DATAVIEW_PUBLISHER: start ``` table published as "Published" from "News" where contains(mission, [[ESCAPADE]]) sort published desc ``` %% | File | Published | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------- | | [[News/Rocket Lab Ships Twin Satellites to Launch Site for NASA Mars Mission Rocket Lab.md\|Rocket Lab Ships Twin Satellites to Launch Site for NASA Mars Mission Rocket Lab]] | August 16, 2024 | | [[News/Rocket Lab Completes Integration and Testing of Twin Spacecraft for NASA Mars Mission.md\|Rocket Lab Completes Integration and Testing of Twin Spacecraft for NASA Mars Mission]] | July 29, 2024 | | [[News/Rocket Lab Integrating Twin Spacecraft for Mission to Mars for NASA.md\|Rocket Lab Integrating Twin Spacecraft for Mission to Mars for NASA]] | October 18, 2023 | | [[News/Rocket Lab Spacecraft Confirmed for Mars as NASA Greenlights ESCAPADE Small Satellite Interplanetary Mission.md\|Rocket Lab Spacecraft Confirmed for Mars as NASA Greenlights ESCAPADE Small Satellite Interplanetary Mission]] | August 23, 2021 | | [[News/Rocket Lab Awarded Contract to Design Twin Spacecraft for Mars.md\|Rocket Lab Awarded Contract to Design Twin Spacecraft for Mars]] | June 15, 2021 | %% DATAVIEW_PUBLISHER: end %% <div class="responsive-video"> <iframe width="1006" height="566" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o8Hn1GNz5oo" title="Makers of: Mars Mission" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> </div>