Rocket Lab has completed the integration and testing of two spacecraft, named Blue and Gold, which are set to orbit Mars. The spacecraft were developed for the University of California Berkeley’s Space Science Laboratory and NASA as part of the ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission. This mission, scheduled for launch from Cape Canaveral later this year, aims to study plasma and magnetic fields around Mars, providing crucial insights into the processes that strip atoms from the planet’s magnetosphere and upper atmosphere, thus influencing Martian climate evolution.
The Blue and Gold spacecraft were designed, built, integrated and tested at Rocket Lab’s Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California. These spacecraft are based on Rocket Lab’s Explorer platform, a versatile, high delta-V interplanetary platform, and include a range of Rocket Lab-developed components such as solar panels, star trackers, propellant tanks, reaction wheels, reaction control systems, and radios.
Rocket Lab founder and CEO Sir Peter Beck said: “Building one Mars spacecraft is an achievement, but building two and doing it on an accelerated timeline is a testament to our team’s deep experience and our vertical integration strategy. We are immensely proud to once again partner with NASA and support the UCB team to deliver new and important science from Mars.”
ESCAPADE Principal Investigator and Associate Director for Planetary Science at the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory, Rob Lillis, added: “Rocket Lab has been an invaluable partner to UC Berkeley over the last four years of ESCAPADE’s development. Their energetic, talented engineers and managers have consistently gone above and beyond in responding rapidly and constructively to both our requests and the inevitable challenges inherent in developing new scientific spacecraft. We are proud to be flying with Rocket Lab to Mars.”
Typically, missions to Mars can take a decade or more from proposal to launch. However, Rocket Lab managed to develop Blue and Gold in just three and a half years, thanks to their mature spacecraft development experience and a vertically integrated supply chain that streamlines production.
The spacecraft are scheduled to be shipped to Cape Canaveral in August, where they will be integrated onto Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket for the upcoming launch.
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