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Tag: new glenn

  • Blue Origin Will Make Its New Glenn Rocket Even Bigger to Rival SpaceX

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    Following the success of New Glenn’s second test flight, Blue Origin announced a super-heavy variant of its rocket that could compete with SpaceX’s Starship.

    Jeff Bezos’ rocket company unveiled the new design for its rocket, named New Glenn 9×4 for the number of engines it boasts on the booster and upper stage. That’s an increase of two engines for each stage from New Glenn’s current design, which features seven engines on the booster and two on the upper stage.

    “The next chapter in New Glenn’s roadmap is a new super-heavy class rocket,” Blue Origin wrote in a statement. The company recently launched New Glenn for its second mission, sending NASA’s ESCAPADE mission on its way to Mars. Although Blue Origin didn’t specify when it would start launching the larger variant of New Glenn, the rocket has a packed schedule for 2026 and 2027.

    Onto bigger things

    Blue Origin debuted its New Glenn rocket in January after years of delays. The rocket’s inaugural flight didn’t go so smoothly, with the company failing to recover the booster during its descent. An investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration laid out seven corrective measures for the rocket to fly again, and its second mission was a major success for the company.

    Now, Blue Origin is focusing on going bigger. Outfitted with nine engines on the booster and four on the upper stage, the added thrust will allow the new New Glenn to lift more than 70 metric tons to low-Earth orbit, over 14 metric tons directly to geosynchronous orbit, and over 20 metric tons to trans-lunar injection. That’s way below Starship’s capability of carrying up to 150 metric tons to low Earth orbit, but it’s a powerful launch vehicle nonetheless.

    The upgraded New Glenn will also feature a larger 28.5-foot (8.7-meter) fairing to allow for bigger payloads. “Both vehicles: 9×4 and our current variant, 7×2, will serve the market concurrently, giving customers more launch options for their missions, including mega-constellations, lunar and deep space exploration, and national security imperatives such as Golden Dome,” Blue Origin wrote.

    Dave Limp, Blue Origin’s CEO, posted an illustration of the upgraded New Glenn standing taller next to the Saturn V rocket that was used to launch astronauts to the Moon as part of NASA’s Apollo program. New Glenn 9×4 also appears much larger than its predecessor.

    The success of New Glenn’s second flight proved the rocket’s worthiness in the orbital launch game. With the super-heavy variant of its New Glenn rocket, Blue Origin will be able to compete with SpaceX on an even larger scale.

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    Passant Rabie

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  • Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket safely made it to space a second time

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    Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket has completed its second flight, The Washington Post reports. The rocket launched from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday, and successfully separated from its first-stage booster, which later landed on a sea platform Blue Origin calls “Jacklyn.”

    The launch marks the first time the space startup has been able to catch a New Glenn booster for later reuse. The maiden flight of the rocket in January was successful in the sense that it got New Glenn into space, but Blue Origin wasn’t able to save the booster from a watery grave. The company hoped to launch its second New Glenn mission on November 9, but cancelled it last minute due to weather.

    New Glenn’s second mission is also notable because of its payload: The rocket ferried NASA satellites to space that are destined for Mars as part of the agency’s ESCAPADE mission. Considering SpaceX’s close relationship with NASA, Blue Origin working with the agency could be an important vote of confidence.

    It could also mean New Glenn is in a good position to help another company founded by Jeff Bezos accelerate its satellite plans. The Post writes that Blue Origin has an existing agreement with Amazon to launch its recently rebranded Amazon Leo satellites into space. Leo is positioned as a competitor to Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service.

    While SpaceX has completed many more launches with its Starship rocket than Blue Origin has, it’s also had more than a few explosive failures along the way. Blue Origin still needs more missions under its belt, but if it can repeat its success with New Glenn, it could prove to be a threat to SpaceX.

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  • Blue Origin plans second launch of New Glenn mega-rocket on November 9 | TechCrunch

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    Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin is finally ready to try a second launch of its super heavy-lift rocket New Glenn. The company announced on Wednesday that it will attempt the launch as early as Sunday, November 9, from Launch Complex 36 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

    New Glenn’s first flight took place back in January, and it was mostly successful. The rocket’s second stage made it into orbit, but the first stage exploded on its return to Earth before Blue Origin could attempt to land it on a drone ship in the ocean.

    Earlier this year, the company said it would try to launch New Glenn for a second time in “late spring.” That timeline slipped a few times, though. Blue Origin is being extra careful with the second launch in part because it will be carrying cargo on behalf of paying customers this time. The main cargo is NASA’s twin ESCAPADE spacecraft, which are headed to Mars. A Viasat tech demonstrator will also be on board.

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    Sean O’Kane

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  • NASA, Blue Origin Prepare for New Glenn Launch of Mars Mission

    NASA, Blue Origin Prepare for New Glenn Launch of Mars Mission

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    NASA and Blue Origin are preparing for the agency’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission, which begins on the inaugural launch of the company’s New Glenn rocket.

    The mission will study the solar wind’s interaction with the magnetosphere on Mars.

    Blue Origin is targeting no earlier than Sunday, October 13th, for the launch of New Glenn-1 from Space Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Central Florida.

    The ESCAPADE mission will use two identical spacecraft to investigate how the solar wind interacts with the hybrid magnetosphere on Mars and how this interaction drives the planet’s atmospheric escape.

    ESCAPADE is the first multi-spacecraft orbital science mission to the Red Planet. Its twin orbiters will take simultaneous observations from different locations around Mars. According to NASA, the observations will reveal the planet’s real-time response to space weather and how the Martian magnetosphere changes over time.

    The mission is funded by NASA’s Heliophysics Division and is part of the NASA Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration program.

    The ESCAPADE mission is led by the University of California, Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory, and the spacecraft is designed by Rocket Lab. The agency’s Launch Services Program, based at NASA Kennedy, secured the launch service under the VADR (Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) contract.

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  • Blue Origin targets mid-October for New Glenn’s inaugural flight and launch of NASA’s Escapade Mars mission

    Blue Origin targets mid-October for New Glenn’s inaugural flight and launch of NASA’s Escapade Mars mission

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    Blue Origin’s New Glenn heavy-lift rocket and its Mars-bound NASA payload now have a tentative launch date. The company on Friday that the inaugural flight will take place no earlier than October 13, carrying to help NASA study the effects of solar wind on Mars’ atmosphere. This will be the first time New Glenn flies in its development, and the date cuts well into the window of opportunity for travel to Mars, which occurs roughly every two years based on the planetary alignments. That launch period opens on September 29 and extends to mid-October, per .

    The mission will lift off from Space Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The twin spacecraft of NASA’s Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers mission (Escapade) on August 19 to begin preparations and integration with the launch vehicle.

    Now, the pressure is really on for Jeff Bezos-founded Blue Origin to get New Glenn ready in time. reported on Wednesday that the company recently suffered two failures at its factory that resulted in damage to hardware for its second and third New Glenn flights. But, a spokesperson told the publication that it’s still on track for this year’s inaugural launch.

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    Cheyenne MacDonald

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