Blue Origin’s heavy lift New Glenn became the first commercial rocket to make it to orbit on its first try back in January. Jeff Bezos’ company is looking to repeat the feat while also nailing a return landing of its booster, something that didn’t come to fruition the first go-around.

The NG-2 mission carrying a pair of Mars-bound satellites for NASA could launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Launch Complex 36 as early as Friday afternoon. The Federal Aviation Administration on Monday earmarked the first potential launch windows for the mission, with a Friday window that runs from 2:51-4:50 p.m. and backup Saturday from 2:49-4:49 p.m.

Neither Blue Origin nor NASA have confirmed a launch attempt, but the rocket is near ready for liftoff, according to company updates.

The combined first and second stages of the rocket had a successful engine test on the pad Thursday, prompting Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp to weigh in.

“Love seeing New Glenn’s seven BE-4 engines come alive! Congratulations to Team Blue on today’s hotfire,” he posted.

Love seeing New Glenn’s seven BE-4 engines come alive! Congratulations to Team Blue on today’s hotfire. We extended the hotfire duration this time to simulate the landing burn sequence by shutting down the non-gimballed engines after ramping down to 50 percent thrust, then… pic.twitter.com/iu0y6yYAnG

— Dave Limp (@davill) October 31, 2025

The company followed up Friday by posting an image of the two-satellite payload encapsulated in the New Glenn fairing ready for its trip to Mars.

The dual spacecraft are part of a mission dubbed ESCAPADE, which stands for Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers. They were supposed to be on the debut New Glenn launch in fall 2024, but delays in rocket readiness prompted NASA to beg off the attempt until Blue Origin could guarantee a ready-to-fly ride available during the limited window needed to rendezvous with the Red Planet.

Dubbed Blue and Gold, the satellites were built by fellow aerospace company Rocket Lab in California for NASA and the University of California Berkeley’s Space Science Laboratory. They had been in Florida ready to fuel up for an 11-month trip to Mars, but to avoid a costly defueling, they returned to California to wait for the next launch opportunity.

They made it back to the Space Coast in September after the yearlong delay, and are now ready to fly.

“Tucked in and ready for flight,” Rocket Lab posted to X on Friday. “This is the last time they’ll be seen on Earth before their mission to Mars. Next stop: The launch pad.”

Encapsulated and “red-y” for Mars. @NASA’s twin ESCAPADE spacecraft are now secure in New Glenn’s 7-meter fairing. pic.twitter.com/IAFOacjYl4

— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) October 31, 2025

The mission’s purpose is to orbit Mars and observe plasma and magnetic fields around the planet to help understand what processes strip atoms from Mars’ magnetosphere and upper atmosphere. That could help explain why Mars’ atmosphere is so thin, and how it may have evolved over time.

“It’s been a long road, but we are so excited to be launching Blue & Gold on their mission to understand the Martian space weather environment.” said Rob Lillis, the mission’s principal investigator and associate director for planetary science at the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory. “Through the usual ups and downs, Rocket Lab has been right alongside NASA and UC Berkeley, supporting us every step of the way on this interplanetary journey.”

Rocket Lab won the design subcontract for the two satellites, using the company’s Photon spacecraft, in 2021 as part of NASA’s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program with NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, which aims to bring high-value planetary science at lower costs on faster timelines.

The plan is for the dual satellites to make what is now a much longer 22-month transit to the Red Planet and enter complementary elliptical orbits for the one-year planetary science mission. The delay in launch from last year has meant its arrival to Mars won’t come until 2027, two years later than planned.

Blue Origin was awarded a $20 million task order to launch the mission. If successful, Blue Origin could be in line to be certified for national security launches by the Space Force, which requires two complete missions before it gets the green light to compete for the lucrative Department of Defense contracts.

The first New Glenn launched this past January several months after Blue Origin’s original target liftoff plan.

Part of its prelaunch prep for launch No. 2 was an extended launch pad engine fire, which Limp said was to simulate the landing burn sequence and help the company stick the return landing of its booster.

Similar to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets, but bigger, the booster looks to return upright on a ship, this one a vessel named Jacklyn in honor of Bezos’ mother.

New Glenn is designed for reuse with the first stages targeting up to 25 flights. The booster on that first flight was named “So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance,” a reference to a line from the Jim Carrey comedy “Dumb & Dumber.”

This second mission’s booster is named “Never Tell Me the Odds,” a reference to a Han Solo line from “Empire Strikes Back.”

New Glenn towers over other rockets on the Space Coast at 321 feet in height. The booster is powered by seven BE-4 engines, built by Blue Origin, that give it 3.85 million pounds of thrust on liftoff. Versions of the engines also power United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rockets, but those only use two.

That thrust at liftoff is more than twice as powerful than SpaceX’s Falcon 9, and more powerful than ULA’s Atlas V and retired Delta IV Heavy rockets.

New Glenn also offers the largest cargo space among its competitors with a nearly 23-foot diameter fairing, the structure that forms the cone at the top of the rocket. That’s compared to the roughly 17- to 18-foot diameter fairing found on Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Vulcan rockets.

Blue Origin is also the only commercial company so far to make it to orbit with a rocket that was made in Florida, with New Glenn’s manufacturing site located at nearby Merritt Island adjacent Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.