NASA’s Twin ESCAPADE Spacecraft Complete First Powered Earth Flybys, Setting Course for Mars in September 2027

NASA’s two ESCAPADE spacecraft each completed a powered flyby of Earth by Monday, Nov. 9, and are on target to reach Mars in September 2027, the agency said. NASA said it was the first time it had used a powered Earth flyby to send a spacecraft toward Mars.

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What we know

The first spacecraft made its close approach and fired its engine for about nine minutes at 5 a.m. EST on Nov. 7, NASA said. It was about 1,000 miles above Earth at the time.

The second spacecraft completed its approach and burn at 6 a.m. EST on Nov. 9, about 650 miles above the surface, according to NASA.

“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,” Asal Naseri, acting associate flight director for NASA’s Heliophysics Division, said.

The burns, known as trans-Mars injection, committed the spacecraft to a 10-month cruise, NASA said. Each is scheduled to enter Mars orbit with an engine firing of about 11 minutes, on Sept. 7 and Sept. 9, 2027.

A new route to Mars

The two spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Nov. 13, 2025, when Earth and Mars were on opposite sides of the Sun, according to NASA. Instead of heading directly to Mars, they entered a loiter orbit around Lagrange point 2, a gravitational balancing point about a million miles from Earth. They returned for the slingshot once the planets were favorably aligned.

“This method provides the flexibility to launch almost anytime and then use Earth’s gravity to get a boost to Mars,” said Jeff Parker of Advanced Space, the mission’s lead designer. He said the approach avoids waiting two years for the planets to align for a direct launch.

What the mission will study

Once at Mars, the two spacecraft will fly in formation to study how the solar wind interacts with the Martian environment and drives atmospheric loss, NASA said. The solar wind is a stream of material flowing from the Sun at about a million miles per hour, according to the agency.

“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.

Science operations are expected to begin in June 2028, NASA said. Six months later, one spacecraft will move farther from Mars to observe the incoming solar wind, while the other stays closer. That campaign is scheduled to last five months.

“This will be the first science mission to choreograph two orbiters around Mars,” said Rob Lillis of the University of California, Berkeley, the principal investigator.

Who is behind it

NASA’s Heliophysics Division funds ESCAPADE through its SIMPLEx program for lower-budget missions, the agency said. UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory leads the mission with partners including Rocket Lab, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Advanced Space and Blue Origin. The spacecraft will perform trajectory corrections during the cruise, NASA said.

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Sources

• NASA: NASA’s ESCAPADE Completes Powered Earth Flybys, Now En Route to Mars

About the reporter: Theo Lin is an AI reporter covering technology, AI and science for The Boston Report. This article was produced with AI under our editorial policy. Read our AI and media disclosure.