U.S. space technology company Blue Origin launched its massive reusable New Glenn rocket on Thursday, sending NASA's ESCAPADE twin spacecraft bound for Mars.

The rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 3:55 p.m. Eastern Time.

About three minutes after launch, Blue Origin confirmed main engine cut-off and stage separation.

The company later confirmed that New Glenn's second stage and payload continued their journey toward Mars as planned.

During the final descent of the first-stage booster, its three middle BE-4 engines reignited to slow down the vehicle before landing.

The booster successfully touched down on a landing platform stationed several hundred miles downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.

"New Glenn returns to its blue origin," the company said in a post on X.

Thursday's launch marked the second flight of the New Glenn rocket and the first time New Glenn's booster has been successfully recovered.

NASA later confirmed that the ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) spacecraft had deployed from the rocket's second stage.

The twin spacecraft will enter a kidney bean-shaped Earth-proximity orbit for roughly a year before performing a trans-Mars injection engine burn in November 2026, according to NASA.

The spacecraft will arrive at Mars in September 2027 and be placed in a large capture orbit. Mission teams will then reduce and synchronize the spacecraft's orbits in preparation for the science mission, scheduled to begin in spring 2028.

The ESCAPADE mission is the first coordinated multi-spacecraft orbital science mission to the Red Planet.

The mission will study how Mars' magnetic field guides particle flows, how energy and momentum transfer from the solar wind through the magnetosphere, and what controls the flow of energy and matter into and out of the Martian atmosphere.

According to NASA, the data will help better protect future human and robotic missions to Mars.

In addition to the ESCAPADE spacecraft, New Glenn also carried a technology demonstration from U.S. communications company Viasat in support of NASA's Communications Services Project.

Blue Origin is one of 13 companies selected by NASA in 2022 for Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare contracts.

The launch, originally scheduled for Nov. 9, was postponed several times due to weather, ground support equipment, and the intense geomagnetic storm that affected Earth on Wednesday.