An artist render of Rocket Lab's "Blue" and "Gold" spacecraft in orbit around Mars. Image / Supplied
Satellite components developed in Auckland are on their way to Mars as part of Nasa’s “Escapade” mission.
“Our friends at Blue Origin gave us a ride to orbit, and now the two spacecraft we built for Nasa and UC Berkeley are on their way to the Red Planet,” said Rocket Lab marketing and communications vice-president Morgan Connaughton.
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) November 13, 2025
“We’ve made contact with the spacecraft, confirming they’re stable and generating power – exactly what we need them to be doing.
“The mission will investigate how a never-ending, million-mile-per-hour stream of particles from the Sun, known as the solar wind, has gradually stripped away much of the Martian atmosphere, causing the planet to cool and its surface water to evaporate.”
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A Blue Origin New Glenn N2 launch, carrying twin Rocket Lab spacecraft, blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on its second attempt on Friday NZT after a weather-delay earlier in the week.
The Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin also managed to land the first stage of the New Glenn rocket on an ocean platform.
Good overview of the landing. We nominally target a few hundred feet away from Jacklyn to avoid a severe impact if engines fail to start or start slowly. We’ll incrementally reduce that conservatism over time. We are all excited and grateful for yesterday. Amazing performance by… pic.twitter.com/DCEMsuSyPm
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) November 14, 2025
On board were two identical, Rocket Lab-designed and built spacecraft, named Blue and Gold (each around 550kg), which will ferry satellites to Mars, then control them as they orbit the Red Planet, studying how solar wind interacts with Mars’ magnetic environment in a bid to learn how its atmosphere – which once supported water – was stripped away.
It’s official: We’re going to Mars! 🔴🚀🛰️
— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) November 5, 2025
Our ESCAPADE mission with @NASA & @ucbssl will launch from Cape Canaveral no earlier than Sunday, November 9. pic.twitter.com/CFu1IgSGG1
The twin satellites, managed by the University of California, Berkeley, will reach Mars in September 2027.
Blue and Gold arriving at Astrotech in Florida. pic.twitter.com/cWy1UIcTpP
— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) November 9, 2025
Blue and Gold’s various Rocket Lab systems showcase the Kiwi-American firm’s reach, following the acquisition of multiple space companies.
They include reaction control systems developed in Auckland (for keeping the satellites in the correct orientation), propulsion tanks and satellite radios made in Long Beach, California, star trackers developed in Toronto and solar panels made in New Mexico.
Technical issues on Blue Origin’s side meant a postponement of the original launch date – scheduled for the time when Earth and Mars are in alignment for the shortest journey, which only happens once every 26 months.
It now means the twin spacecraft will now take a long way around.
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) November 8, 2025
After takeoff, the twin spacecraft will travel into deep space. But rather than turning toward Mars, the two orbiters will instead aim for Lagrange Point 2, or L2 — a cosmic balance point about 1.5 million kilometres from Earth, where they will sit in a “loitering orbit” for 12 months before proceeding to Mars.
Nasa says the entire Escapade mission will be executed for under US$100 million ($178m), under the US space agency’s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (“SIMPLEx”) programme to develop low-cost missions.
Today’s launch will also invlove Blue Origin attempting to land the New Glenn rocket’s first stage on a floating platform – a barge at sea named Jacklyn after Amazon founder Bezos’ late mother.
All going well, Rocket Lab will one day have its hardware on the surface of the Red Planet, too.
In October last year, the firm revealed it was one of the contenders selected by Nasa to complete a study into retrieving rock samples from the surface of Mars (already collected by various rover missions) and returning them to Earth – something never done before.
It’s a modest contract, with huge potential, according to the firm.
“The study contract is US$625,000. The opportunity should the study concepts be progressed is in the billions,” Rocket Lab’s Connaughton told the Herald.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.