New Glenn will take NASA satellites with it on its first flight

The first launch of a rocket is always a risk. Nevertheless, NASA is entrusting the New Glenn with two satellites for its first flight to Mars .

Artist's impression of a New Glenn on the launch pad. Delays in development

Payload for Jeff Bezos' rocket: On its first flight, the New Glenn rocket is intended to bring two satellites into space for the US space agency National Aeronautics And Space Administration (NASA).

During its first launch, the rocket from the space company Blue Origin will transport the two satellites of the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (Escapade) mission . NASA announced this at a meeting of the Human Exploration and Operations Committee, reported the US news outlet Space.com, which specializes in space topics. 

The risk is acceptable

"We will very likely be the very first launch of New Glenn ," Bradley Smith, head of NASA's Launch Services Office, said in the meeting. The first launch of a rocket is risky. But Smith said that was acceptable. There is a higher risk tolerance in this mission.

Earlier this year, NASA announced that it had selected Bezos' space company Blue Origin for the Escapade mission . According to Space.com, the contract is worth $20 million.

New Glenn is scheduled to launch in about a year. However, there is a risk that Escapade will not be able to start at the end of 2024 as planned. Because the rocket is far behind schedule: when it was presented in 2016, Bezos announced that the first launch would take place before the end of 2020.

The carrier stage of the 95 meter high New Glenn is intended to be reusable and is designed for around 25 missions. The rocket is intended to bring material, but also people, into space.

Escapade consists of two small satellites. These are intended to investigate the interaction between the solar wind and the magnetosphere of Mars.