Rocket Lab readies twin spacecraft for NASA Mars mission

Rocket Lab readies twin spacecraft for NASA Mars mission
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 30, 2024

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) ("Rocket Lab" or "the Company"), a global leader in launch services and space systems, has finalized the integration and testing of two spacecraft that will soon journey to Mars.

Rocket Lab constructed the twin spacecraft for the University of California Berkeley's Space Science Laboratory and NASA to support the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) mission. Scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral later this year, this heliophysics mission aims to study plasma and magnetic fields around Mars. The data gathered will provide insights into the processes that deplete atoms from Mars' magnetosphere and upper atmosphere, contributing to the understanding of Martian climate evolution.

The spacecraft, named Blue and Gold, were developed, assembled, and tested at Rocket Lab's Spacecraft Production Complex and headquarters in Long Beach, California. They are based on Rocket Lab's Explorer spacecraft platform, a versatile, high delta-V interplanetary system. The spacecraft include numerous Rocket Lab-manufactured components and subsystems, such as solar panels, star trackers, propellant tanks, reaction wheels, reaction control systems, and radios.

"Building one Mars spacecraft is an achievement, but building two and doing it on an accelerated timeline is testament to our team's deep experience and our vertical integration strategy," said Rocket Lab founder and CEO Sir Peter Beck. "We are immensely proud to once again partner with NASA and support the UCB team to deliver new and important science from Mars."

"Rocket Lab has been an invaluable partner to UC Berkeley over the last four years of ESCAPADE's development," said ESCAPADE Principal Investigator and Associate Director for Planetary Science at the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory, Rob Lillis. "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, Mars missions take a decade or more from proposal to launch, but Rocket Lab completed Blue and Gold in just three and a half years. This rapid development was made possible by their extensive spacecraft development experience and a vertically integrated supply chain that streamlines production.

Blue and Gold are set to ship to Cape Canaveral in August, where they will be integrated onto Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket.