Rocket Lab’s ESCAPADE Mission: Pioneering Low-Cost Spacecraft to Study Mars

Rocket Lab’s ESCAPADE Mission: Pioneering Low-Cost Spacecraft to Study Mars
Image credit: Long Beach Business Journal 

Rocket Lab's Dual-Step Journey to Mars

Rocket Lab is preparing for a significant mission that will take two of its spacecraft, named Blue and Gold, on an 11-month, 230-million-mile journey to Mars. The first step in this journey involves transporting the spacecraft 2,500 miles from California to Cape Canaveral, where they will be launched. These spacecraft are part of NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission, which aims to study the interaction between solar winds and the Martian atmosphere.

Rocket Lab’s Innovative Spacecraft Design

The spacecraft, based on Rocket Lab’s Explorer platform, are engineered with a unique "tank sandwich" design that optimizes fuel efficiency and reduces the overall mass of the structure. This innovative approach allows the spacecraft to achieve a high delta-v capability of about 3 kilometers per second, crucial for the long journey to Mars. Rocket Lab’s engineers faced the challenge of designing a spacecraft capable of completing the Mars orbital insertion (MOI) maneuver in deep space, a critical step for entering Martian orbit. The spacecraft are about 70% fuel by mass to ensure they can perform this demanding maneuver.

ESCAPADE: A Mission Funded by NASA’s SIMPLEx Program

The ESCAPADE mission is funded under NASA’s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program, which aims to support low-cost, high-risk missions. ESCAPADE is one of three missions selected under this program, with a budget cap of $55 million, excluding launch costs. Rocket Lab's cost-effective approach to spacecraft production has allowed them to deliver a highly capable mission within this budget. The mission's scientific payloads were developed by the University of California, Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory (SSL), while Rocket Lab provided the satellite bus.

Overcoming Design Constraints for Mars

One of the significant challenges Rocket Lab faced was the late selection of the launch vehicle. NASA only confirmed Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket as the launch provider in February 2023, forcing Rocket Lab to design the spacecraft without knowing the final launch vehicle. Instead, the design was driven by the physics of the Mars orbital insertion maneuver, rather than the constraints of a specific launch vehicle. This approach allowed Rocket Lab to avoid a redesign once the launch vehicle was chosen, streamlining the mission's development.

Preparing for the Journey to Mars

Once launched, the spacecraft will travel for 11 months before reaching Mars. Upon arrival, they will perform the critical MOI burn to enter orbit around Mars. Due to the sun’s position between Earth and Mars during this time, communication with the spacecraft will be delayed, requiring Rocket Lab engineers to wait another three months before sending commands to begin orbit circularization. The mission will then proceed to collect and transmit scientific data back to Earth for approximately 11 months, contributing valuable insights into the Martian environment.

The Future of Low-Cost Deep Space Exploration

Rocket Lab’s success with ESCAPADE follows their earlier achievement with the CAPSTONE mission to the moon, further demonstrating their capability to deliver high-performance spacecraft for deep space missions at a fraction of the traditional cost. With the SIMPLEx program, NASA is embracing higher-risk, lower-cost missions, paving the way for more frequent and innovative exploration of our solar system. Rocket Lab’s work on ESCAPADE is a significant step forward in this new era of space exploration, proving that small, cost-effective missions can achieve big goals.