On Thursday, October 30, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket was visible on Pad 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in preparation for its upcoming Escapade NASA mission to Mars.

For just the second time ever, Blue Origin is planning to launch its massive New Glenn rocket.

And this time, the spacecraft – towering more than 300 feet tall – will help propel a NASA mission to Mars known as ESCAPADE.

The impending launch, which could unfold as early as Sunday, Nov. 9, from Florida's famous Space Coast along the Atlantic, would be just the second time New Glenn has gotten off the ground since its maiden flight in January 2025. The mission will serve as a crucial test for Blue Origin, the space technology company founded by Jeff Bezos, which is developing the heavy-lift launch system to compete with SpaceX in the commercial orbital spaceflight market.

Here's everything to know about Blue Origin and its New Glenn rocket.

When is the New Glenn launch?

Blue Origin is working toward a Sunday, Nov. 9, launch of its New Glenn rocket from Florida, a mission it refers to as NG-2, according to a company post on social media site X.

A Federal Aviation Administration operations plan advisory indicates the launch window is open from 2:45 to 5:11 p.m. ET. The rocket would get off the ground from Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, a site Blue Origin invested $1 billion to rebuild.

First stage booster to attempt landing

After the upper stage separates from the booster, Blue Origin will once again attempt to land the first stage on a drone ship, named Jacklyn, several hundred miles offshore in the Atlantic.

"What if we don't stick the landing? That's OK," Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp said in a post on X. "We've got several more New Glenn boosters already in production."

What is Blue Origin? Does Jeff Bezos own it?

Billionaire Jeff Bezos, best known for founding Amazon, is the founder of the private space company Blue Origin.

The company not only develops its two rockets – the large New Glenn and much smaller New Shepard used in space tourism flights – but other space technology as well, including human lunar landers.

What is Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket?

Named in honor of NASA astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, New Glenn is a powerful two-stage heavy-lift launch vehicle manufactured by Blue Origin.

The rocket is built to be reusable, with the first stage designed to last for at least 25 flights, according to Blue Origin. The booster being used in the upcoming spaceflight is nicknamed Never Tell Me the Odds.

What will New Glenn do?

Blue Origin envisions that New Glenn will be capable of shuttling Amazon's Project Kuiper satellites to orbit and undertaking other missions for paying customers – including NASA and telecommunications providers.

When was the 1st New Glenn rocket launch?

The spacecraft has only launched one time so far, with its maiden flight Jan. 16, 2025, from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

While the upper stage reached orbit in the debut, the booster itself was lost during the descent.

How tall is New Glenn?

Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket stands at 322 feet tall.

That includes a nearly 23-foot-wide fairing that is designed to carry cargo to orbit, which Blue Origin says on its website has "room for bigger constellations and larger payloads." The rocket's first stage is powered by seven of Blue Origin's BE-4 engines, while the upper stage, which flies in orbit, operates with two of the company's BE-3U engines designed for the vacuum of space.

Comparable in size to NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) developed for the Artemis moon campaign, New Glenn is one of the largest active rockets in the United States, only outdone by SpaceX's approximately 400-foot Starship.

What is NASA's ESCAPADE mission?

During its second-ever mission, New Glenn is due to propel NASA's twin ESCAPADE spacecraft on their trek to Mars, where they will orbit the red planet and take simultaneous observations of solar winds and space weather.

The mission also doubles as a commercial venture. New Glenn will additionally carry technology from telecommunications company Viasat that could be used for NASA missions in low-Earth orbit.

Blue Origin also launches New Shepard from Texas

The New Glenn spacecraft is not to be confused with Blue Origin's much smaller New Shepard rocket that the company launches from West Texas on brief trips taking paying passengers high above Earth's atmosphere.

New Shepard is the same spacecraft that pop star Katy Perry and broadcast journalist Gayle King boarded in April for an all-women flight. After its most recent mission at the start of October, the rocket has now taken a total of 80 people to suborbital space, about 60 miles high, where they experience views of Earth and a few minutes of weightlessness.

Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin to launch New Glenn rocket for 2nd time. Everything to know

Reporting by Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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