Blue Origin launches NASA’s twin Mars orbiters, lands booster for the first time

Blue Origin launched its New Glenn rocket on Thursday, sending NASA’s twin Escapade Mars orbiters on a years-long journey to the red planet.

The 321-foot rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral after days of weather delays, and the company landed the booster upright on an ocean platform for the first time.

The orbiters will spend a year near Earth before heading to Mars in 2025, arriving in 2027 to study the planet’s upper atmosphere and magnetic fields. The low-cost mission is managed by UC Berkeley.