Blue Origin and New SHEPARD RLV

Blue Origin's new landing barge has been delivered, from the Space Bucket:


As we get closer to the first launch of New Glenn, and with it, the first booster landing attempt, Blue Origin is continuing to prepare. Earlier this morning the company’s new landing barge arrived in Florida for the first time, docking not far from New Glenn’s launch site.
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Originally, the plan was to use an actual ship with a massive landing platform in the center, that idea however was scrapped, along with the actual ship and they started working on a barge instead. By now it’s complete and just about ready for a massive booster to try and land on it. Here I will go more in-depth into its arrival, size, mission plan, and more.
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Full article here - https://thespacebucket.com/blue-origi...
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Credit:
SpaceX - / spacex https://www.youtube.com/c/SpaceX
NASA - / @nasa https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLA_DiR1FfKNvjuUpBHmylQ
Blue Origin - / blueoriginchannel https://www.youtube.com/c/blueoriginchannel
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Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:30 - Jacklyn Arrives
4:09 - Upcoming Static Fire
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Well so much for that for this year, and in other words NG wouldn’t be ready before the launch window closes. Even though a spring launch is far from favourable consider the power of NG in combination with the relatively small mass of its payloads.

NASA Stands Down from October Launch for ESCAPADE to Mars

NASA announced Friday it will not fuel the two ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) spacecraft at this time, foregoing the mission’s upcoming October launch window. While future launch opportunities are under review, the next possible earliest launch date is spring 2025.

The agency’s decision to stand down was based on a review of launch preparations and discussions with Blue Origin, the Federal Aviation Administration, and Space Launch Delta 45 Range Safety Organization, as well as NASA’s Launch Services Program and Science Mission Directorate. The decision was made to avoid significant cost, schedule, and technical challenges associated with potentially removing fuel from the spacecraft in the event of a launch delay, which could be caused by a number of factors.

“This mission can help us study the atmosphere at Mars — key information as we explore farther and farther into our solar system and need to protect astronauts and spacecraft from space weather,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We’re committed to seeing ESCAPADE safely into space, and I look forward to seeing it off the ground and on its trip to Mars.”

The alignment of Earth and Mars constrains ESCAPADE’s windows of launch opportunities to the Red Planet. This means that small schedule changes can result in months-long delays in launch. The mission team is analyzing larger planetary window opportunities. NASA and Blue Origin are discussing an additional opportunity to launch the spacecraft to Mars no earlier than spring 2025.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1832128490625180038
View: https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1832128490625180038


We’re supportive of NASA’s decision to target the ESCAPADE mission for no earlier than spring 2025 and look forward to the flight. We plan to move up New Glenn’s second flight, originally scheduled for December, into November. New Glenn will carry Blue Ring technology and mark our first National Security Space Launch certification flight. We’ll provide more details on these launch plans in the coming weeks. To learn more about Blue Ring, please visit: blueorigin.com/blue-ring.
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I've actually heard from someone I know at NASA that ESCAPADE had a critical flaw with their propulsion system so they can't launch even if the launch vehicle was ready. And I've also heard from a friend at the FAA that Blue isn't even in application review for a launch license so they weren't ready anyway. Basically they both shit the bed in this case. Lets hope this at least allows Blue to be more thorough in preparing for their first launch so it's successful. Would not be surprised to see more delays for New Glenn in any case.
 
What I'm hearing is that there was an ATP meeting at NASA HQ yesterday for go/no-go fueling the spacecraft. (NASA would not comment but the press release below basically confirms this.)

ESCAPADE uses hypergolic propellants MMH and NTO - which are aggressive and unsafe.
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As Christophe Mandy, Rocket Lab's lead systems engineer for ESCAPADE, put it: "If we are fueled, and then we have to de-fuel, getting the spacecraft cleaned increases various forms of risk in the spacecraft, which need to be handled. So if they've been fueled, it opens up a certain amount of work in order to make the spacecraft back ready to launch."
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1832132920552611867
View: https://twitter.com/breadfrom/status/1832132920552611867
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1832163172687749344
View: https://twitter.com/djsnm/status/1832163172687749344


Delaying Escapade to next spring means it misses the launch window, so I took a look at JPL's trajectory browser and this is what I came up with:
I'm presuming the main constraint is ensuring enough dV on the spacecraft for Mars capture, but it looks like there's a Venus flyby option:
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According to a paper on Escapade it should have 2.5km/s of dV so this is doable, if thermal environment is acceptable.
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There’s likely other routes, that don’t go as close, but I can’t use this tool to find them.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1832178101037768967
View: https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/1832178101037768967


That fits with what I heard about such a trajectory being "complicated"
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Dave Limp
Some of you recently asked additional questions about Comet, the thermal protection system we created for #NewGlenn,
and whether we’ll paint it on our vehicle. We could—but have chosen not to for a variety of reasons, including adding unnecessary weight.
It has been applied on our fins, forward module, strakes, tank tunnel, and the aft section, including the legs.
As for the color, you tell me: Copper? Gold? Brown?
Given the the thermal environment, we expect the material will change colors on our booster as we fly multiple missions.
re: the strake you see at the top of the image, there are two of them, and each is about the size of an F-16 wing and carries 175,000 lbs of lift when our stage re-enters for landing on Jacklyn.
The strake is designed to accommodate two inches of thermal “growth” during the different phases of flight. In other words,
there are temperature differences during the mission of up to several hundred degrees Fahrenheit that cause the tank to shrink and the strakes to grow.
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source X
 
Blue Origin is rather ambitious with the goals of its' first New Glenn flight, from the Space Bucket:


If everything stays on schedule, Blue Origin believes they can launch New Glenn in about two months this November. While the original date and payload have changed, the goal of landing and reusing the first booster is still a major priority for the company.
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So much so that they even named the booster in relation to the first landing attempt. They also shared more images highlighting the installation of strakes, New Glenn heat shielding, and upcoming steps.
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Full article here - https://thespacebucket.com/blue-origi...
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Credit:
SpaceX - / spacex https://www.youtube.com/c/SpaceX
NASA - / @nasa https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLA_DiR1FfKNvjuUpBHmylQ
Blue Origin - / blueoriginchannel https://www.youtube.com/c/blueoriginchannel
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Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:28 - Landing The Booster
3:48 - Launch Date Change
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1838310712378007671
View: https://twitter.com/johnkrausphotos/status/1838310712378007671


Ignition and test fire at 4:08pm ET of Blue Origin’s New Glenn second stage ahead of the rocket’s debut flight! The burn appeared to last a bit longer than ten seconds.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1838323920795021593
View: https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1838323920795021593


We successfully completed New Glenn’s second stage hotfire today, a critical milestone on our road to first flight (video forthcoming):
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www.blueorigin.com

New Glenn Completes Second Stage Hotfire | Blue Origin

New Glenn’s second stage successfully completed a risk reduction hotfire test today, a milestone on our road to first flight.
www.blueorigin.com www.blueorigin.com

NEWS | SEP 23, 2024
New Glenn Completes Second Stage Hotfire

New Glenn’s second stage (GS2) successfully completed a risk reduction hotfire test today, a milestone on our road to first flight, scheduled for launch in November, from Launch Complex 36 in Cape Canaveral, FL. NG-1 will carry Blue Ring technology as its first manifested payload.

The hotfire lasted 15 seconds and marked the first time we operated the vehicle as an integrated system. The purpose of the hotfire test was to validate interactions between the subsystems on the second stage, its two BE-3U engines, and the ground control systems.

Additionally, we demonstrated its three key systems, including: the tank pressurization control system, which uses helium to pressurize the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks during flight; the thrust vector control system, which gimbals the engines and steers the rocket during flight; and validated the start-up and shut-down sequences for the BE-3U systems, which can be restarted up to three times during a mission.

In addition to testing our flight hardware, this hotfire test was also an opportunity for the launch operations team to practice launch day procedures on console and verify timing for a number of critical operations.

New Glenn’s second stage is designed for demanding, highly energetic missions to low Earth orbit (LEO), medium Earth orbit (MEO), and geosynchronous orbit (GEO). The stage is roughly 88 feet (26.8 meters) tall with a diameter of 23 feet (7 meters). BE-3U’s elegant expander bleed design yields a robust engine architecture that balances thrust, specific impulse, and cost. Each of the two BE-3Us that will fly on NG-1 were originally designed to yield up to 160,000 lbf of vacuum thrust. The engine has outperformed throughout its test campaign and will fly at 173,000 lbf, making them some of the highest thrust-to-weight ratio hydrogen engines ever flown.

Our New Glenn vehicle stands more than 320 feet (98 meters) tall. Its first stage is powered by seven BE-4 engines, the most powerful liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled, oxygen-rich staged combustion engine ever flown. In addition to the BE-4 and BE-3U, Blue Origin manufactures BE-7 engines for our Blue Moon lunar landers and New Shepard’s BE-3PM engine.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1838325543751843902
View: https://twitter.com/davill/status/1838325543751843902


Another view here. A couple of firsts today on this 15-second hotfire: First
time we’ve integrated and hotfired a New Glenn flight stage, and first time we’ve loaded a stage with flight propellants – liquid oxygen + liquid hydrogen, which burns as an almost transparent flame at nearly 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

GS2 is one of the largest and most capable upper stages ever developed with a propellant load comparable to a Delta IV booster. The two BE-3Us have a maximum thrust of up to 346,000 lbf (173,000 lbf per engine), which is the equivalent thrust of a dozen F-16 jets. Kudos to the whole team!
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1843339058304651287
View: https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1843339058304651287


We’re standing down on today’s launch attempt to troubleshoot a vehicle issue that would’ve taken us beyond our launch window. New launch target forthcoming. #NS27
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1842196161177833911
View: https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1842196161177833911


New Shepard #NS27 is an uncrewed verification flight debuting our second human-rated vehicle to meet growing customer demand. The launch window opens on Monday, October 7, at 8:00 AM CDT / 13:00 UTC:
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www.blueorigin.com

Blue Origin Debuts Second Human-Rated New Shepard Rocket To Meet Demand | Blue Origin

Blue Origin’s next New Shepard flight, NS-27, will debut our second human-rated vehicle, enabling expanded flight capacity to meet growing demand.
www.blueorigin.com www.blueorigin.com
 
I am curious how successful the Glenn launch will be with its touch down. Seems like a super ambitious move to attempt recovery the first time out. You might just lose a ship rather than gain a rocket.
 
The Space Bucket has just put out a video concerning the installation of the New Glenn's first-stage BE-4 rocket-motors:


Early this morning Blue Origin shared the first images of a New Glenn booster with 7 BE-4 engines installed. This is the first time we’ve ever seen this and with it all being flight hardware, a launch very soon is expected.
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In addition to the image, the company’s CEO shared more information on the engines, their operation on the upcoming flight, and even which specific engines are responsible for gimbaling.
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Full article here - https://thespacebucket.com/blue-origi...https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...w&q=https://thespacebucket.com/&v=Ix3JzPOXRvY
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Credit: Blue Origin - / blueoriginchannel https://www.youtube.com/c/blueoriginchannel
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Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:28 - 7 Engines Installed
3:42 - Even More Progress
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https://twitter.com/x/status/1851498623949029778
View: https://twitter.com/davill/status/1851498623949029778


#NewGlenn’s GS1 is on the move! Our transporter comprises two trailers connected by cradles and a strongback assembly designed in-house. There are 22 axles and 176 tires on this transport vehicle. It’s towed by an Oshkosh M1070, a repurposed U.S. Army tank transporter, with 505 horsepower and 1,825 pound-feet of torque. Seems fitting we’ve named it GERT -- Giant Enormous Rocket Truck. The distance between GERT’s front bumper and the trailer's rear is 310’, about the length of a football field. It’s a 23-mile, multiple-hour journey to our pad because we have to take the long way around.
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Scott Manley has uploaded a video about the New Shepard's "Phallic" appearance:


Blue Origin's New Shepard has launched dozens of humans to space for short trips above the Karman line, but, while the occupants will tell the world about the life changing views, the rest of the world can't help but note the rocket's similarity to the male anatomy.
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There are of course many good engineering reasons behind this, and I'd like to dig into some of these while discussing the general technology behind the design.
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In order to keep the script PG I borrowed some colourful metaphors from "Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure" which is very much not PG.
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