Rocket Lab's ESCAPADE pair and the Earth-swingby Mars maneuver
Where it stands: Rocket Lab's Blue and Gold spacecraft, NASA's ESCAPADE Mars orbiters, are heading back toward Earth for a gravity assist. Each is to fire its main engine for a burn in November that sets course for Mars, a maneuver described as never having worked before. Watch whether both spacecraft confirm the November burn.
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- 2026-10-21 (overnight coverage — Starlust via MSN; trade re-caps): Rocket Lab's Blue and Gold spacecraft — NASA's ESCAPADE Mars orbiters — are headed back toward Earth for a gravity assist, each to fire its main engine for the burn that sets course for Mars in November; the coverage calls the maneuver one that has never worked before. The market reacted overnight: RKLB up 3.9% to $52.87 premarket on October 21. Debut thread — the record carries Blue Origin's Mars Telecommunications award and Rocket Lab's related GAO protest, but no orbiters-trajectory campaign thread until now. Watch: the November burn and whether both spacecraft confirm.