Forward of testing, Blue Origin raises New Glenn on the launch pad for first time

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin raised a take a look at model of its huge orbital rocket on its launch pad for the primary time Wednesday, inaugurating the beginning of a serious take a look at marketing campaign forward of the primary launch later this 12 months.

The take a look at model of the rocket is all Blue Origin {hardware}, however not all of it’s going to essentially find yourself going to house. The second stage and the payload fairing that sits on the prime of the car are each stand-ins throughout testing; the rocket additionally doesn’t have any BE-4 engines, as they’re not wanted for the upcoming suite of exams. These engines, that are additionally made by Blue Origin, are present process their very own take a look at marketing campaign at NASA’s Marshall Area Flight Middle and the corporate’s services in West Texas.

The upcoming exams with this launch car will let groups apply car integration and transportation to and from the launch pad, and what’s known as an built-in tanking take a look at. For that take a look at, the booster will probably be fueled with liquid nitrogen (which isn’t used throughout an precise launch) to confirm that the fluid programs perform correctly. Assessments are anticipated to take at the least per week, Blue Origin CEO David Limp said on LinkedIn.

As soon as the exams are full, the car will return to Blue’s huge storage at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Area Power Base, the place engineers will outfit the reusable first stage with seven BE-4 engines and mate it with a flight-ready second stage. (The BE-4 engines gained flight heritage earlier this 12 months, after they powered United Launch Alliance’s first Vulcan Centaur rocket launch.)

New Glenn rolling to the launch pad. Picture Credit: Blue Origin

Limp expressed confidence that the car will meet its goal launch date by the tip of this 12 months: “Manufacturing continues to make progress with a number of boosters, fairings, and second levels in our manufacturing unit,” he mentioned. “We’re trying ahead to bringing this heavy-lift capability to our prospects later this 12 months.”

Bringing the brand new car to market will mark a brand new chapter for the 24-year-old firm. The corporate is greatest identified for conducting house tourism flights with its suborbital rocket, New Shepard. That car, which is 60 ft tall, solely flies to round 66 miles — above what many take into account to be the boundary of house, however far in need of reaching orbital house.

New Glenn is significantly extra highly effective. The 320-foot-tall launch car is Blue Origin’s first heavy-lift rocket, designed to launch greater than 45 tons of payload to low Earth orbit. The reusable first stage will land on a barge within the Atlantic Ocean, much like how SpaceX recovers its boosters, and is designed to fly for at the least 25 missions.

The car has already been tapped by a number of prospects — the primary launch will carry a pair of NASA spacecraft known as ESCAPADE, which have Mars as their final vacation spot. Amazon, Bezos’ different firm, additionally awarded New Glenn billions for as much as 27 launches for its forthcoming Mission Kuiper satellite tv for pc web constellation. Blue Origin has additionally scored launches for telecom suppliers Telecast and Eutelsat for later this decade.