NASA Will be Sending two More Missions to Mars in 2024, Costing Just $80 Million

One of the biggest ongoing changes in space exploration is the introduction of commercial methods into the field.  Commercial launch providers like RocketLab and SpaceX have fundamentally changed the way the industry does business.  Now researchers are taking their “move fast and break things” approach to another part of the industry – actual mission design.  

One of a trio of missions that will attempt to lower a mission’s cost to launch by a factor of 10 is led by researchers at UC Berkeley.  Known as the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE), the mission will consist of twin satellites, known as “Blue” and “Gold” after UC Berkeley’s colors.  Their primary mission will be to monitor Mars, watching for its atmosphere and how the planet is affected by the solar wind. One of the most intriguing things about the project is that it should cost only around $80 million from start to data collection in Mars orbit.

Visualization of the focal points of ESCAPADE’s science. Hot ionized plasma (green and yellow) and magnetic fields (blue lines).
Credit – UC Berkeley & Robert Lillis

Various factors enable such a dramatic price drop from the $800 million that such a mission would typically cost using traditional satellite development methods.  One large cost savings is high-risk tolerance.  Dr. Robert Lillis, an associate director at UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory, puts it plaintively: “Instead of spending $800 million for a 95% chance of success, can we spend $80 million for an 80% chance?”