EscaPADE

The Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE) is a dual-spacecraft mission to study ion and sputtered escape from Mars. The two identical spacecraft were scheduled for launch as secondary satellites on the Psyche mission in August 2022, but were removed due to problems with the required trajectory. A new launch opportunity is to be determined, probably as rideshares in 2024. The science goals of the mission are to: understand the processes controlling the structure of Mars' hybrid magnetosphere and how it guides ion flows; understand how energy and momentum are transported from the solar wind through Mars' magnetosphere; and understand the processes controlling the flow of energy and matter into and out of the collisional atmosphere. EscaPADE is part of the NASA Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program.

The two spacecraft nicknamed "Blue" and "Gold" were greenlit for development by NASA in August 2021 for a tentative launch window around October 2024 when Mars and Earth approach each other in their orbits. [1]