Blue Origin and New SHEPARD RLV

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/03/02/an-exclusive-look-at-jeff-bezos-plan-to-set-up-amazon-like-delivery-for-future-human-settlement-of-the-moon/

The code name for the project seems to be Blue Moon. Not all that clear from the article if it refers to the entire vehicle or just the lander though.
 
Updates today from Blue Origins on their plans

Blue Origin has released a new video promoting the New Glenn rocket. It is like ... whoah.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/839105757194960897
View: https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/839105757194960897


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BTEhohh6eYk

Blue Origin releases details of its monster orbital rocket

arstechnica.com

Blue Origin releases details of its monster orbital rocket

The privately developed rocket will also be capable of 100 reuses, Jeff Bezos says.
arstechnica.com arstechnica.com

Eutelsat first customer for Blue Origin’s New Glenn - See more at: http://spacenews.com/eutelsat-first-customer-for-blue-origins-new-glenn/#sthash.lAiYfYgl.dpuf
 
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The article in Spacenews says the BE-4 engine is designed for 100 missions. That's pretty ambitious although it should be remembered that early jet engines also had extremely short lifespans. The profit incentive for making rocket technology re-usable should push the technology along a similar path. I still wonder about sizing though. 4 million pounds of thrust is more than most commercial launches need. High payload weight at low cost may create a new market but it could take a while to develop.
 
http://uk.businessinsider.com/blue-origin-new-shepard-spaceship-inside-images-2017-3?r=US&IR=T
 
http://spacenews.com/blue-origin-ready-to-support-nasa-lunar-missions-with-blue-moon/
 
https://www.geekwire.com/2017/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-moon/
 
Blue Origin enlarges New Glenn’s payload fairing, preparing to debut upgraded New Shepard

PARIS — Blue Origin will likely launch the third iteration of its New Shepard suborbital launch vehicle by year’s end, paving the way for a human-rated version and ironing out the reusability plan for the orbital New Glenn rocket.

The company also revealed a large, 7-meter payload fairing for New Glenn, meant for launching more voluminous payloads than the original design.

Clay Mowry, Blue Origin’s vice president of sales, marketing and customer experience, said Sept. 12 that the third New Shepard incorporates lessons learned from the previous model that launched and landed five times before retiring last October.

“We have a new upgraded version of New Shepard that has actually been shipped to the launch site, and we’ll be flying again before the end of this year,” Mowry said at Euroconsult’s World Satellite Business Week here. “We hope to have human flights in 2018. It’s designed to take six astronauts into suborbital flight above the Von Karman line.”
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The third New Shepard has modifications for improved reusability, he said, such as access panels that enable more rapid servicing in between flights. Blue Origin is also trying to improve New Shepard’s thermal protection.

“Our third propulsion module we are going to test hopefully by the end of this year — we are going to fly it again, testing it next year, and then there is a fourth propulsion module that will be coming, which is the one we actually fly people on,” he said. “We are step by step trying to incorporate lessons learned as we go.”

Another major difference between the second and third versions include real capsule windows, Mowry said — the ones on version two were painted.

Mowry said Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin’s founder, has invested $2.5 billion in New Glenn, and that the rocket has no funding from the U.S. government. Blue Origin has been working on New Shepard for over a decade. The first vehicle launched in April 2015, reaching the edge of space but failing to land.
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http://spacenews.com/blue-origin-enlarges-new-glenns-payload-fairing-preparing-to-debut-upgraded-new-shepard/
 
Blue Origin signs up third customer for New Glenn

“We have entered into an agreement with mu Space on a future launch of a geostationary satellite aboard New Glenn early in the next decade,” Meyerson said. “We look forward to launching mu Space to serve the people of Thailand and the Asia-Pacific region.”
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“We’ve decided to go with Blue Origin because we’re impressed with the company’s vision and engineering approach,” said James Yenbamroong, chief executive of mu Space, in a statement. “We want to deliver equitable access to communication services for all and improve quality of life on Earth.”
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“The response to New Glenn has been phenomenal,” said Meyerson. He reiterated plans announced earlier this month that, based on customer feedback, the company would move directly to a payload fairing 7 meters in diameter, skipping an interim 5.4-meter fairing.
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http://spacenews.com/blue-origin-signs-up-third-customer-for-new-glenn/
 
Blue Origin shows interest in national security launches

CHANTILLY, Va. — The new chief executive of Blue Origin told the National Space Council his company is in discussions about certifying its New Glenn rocket for government missions, a shift in strategy that could put the company in competition with a customer.

In a presentation to the first meeting of the reconstituted National Space Council at the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center here Oct. 5, Bob Smith said that the New Glenn rocket the company is developing could be used for both commercial and government missions, the latter requiring the company to go through a certification process with agencies like NASA and the U.S. Air Force.

“Our New Glenn launch vehicle will be more capable than existing launch vehicles flying today, and can be used not only for human spaceflight and other commercial missions, but also for civil and national security payloads,” he said. “Therefore, we are in early discussions with the national security community and NASA about how to certify New Glenn for their use.”
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http://spacenews.com/blue-origin-shows-interest-in-national-security-launches/
 
Did they do it with the troubled turbo-pump or was this an open-cycle, pressure fed run? That big frosty assembly at the side of the motor does not look like a single-shaft turbine-pump unit.

David
 
merriman said:
Did they do it with the troubled turbo-pump or was this an open-cycle, pressure fed run? That big frosty assembly at the side of the motor does not look like a single-shaft turbine-pump unit.

David
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Maybe they did it so they could keep moving forward with development of the remaining components rather than holding the entire show up for the turbo-pump.
 
Blue Origin remains on course for 2020 debut of New Glenn heavy lift rocket

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/11/blue-origin-2020-debut-new-glenn-rocket/
 
It will be amazing to see these guys and SpaceX landing boosters at sea routinely. Out lifting all competitors and reusing the boosters. I don't envy ULA and Arianespace.
 
sferrin said:
It will be amazing to see these guys and SpaceX landing boosters at sea routinely. Out lifting all competitors and reusing the boosters. I don't envy ULA and Arianespace.
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For the Moment SpaceX made 19 successful landings, Follow in December if all goes well a triple landing with Falcon Heavy
Follow in 2020 with Blue Origin test flights

If ULA is foolish enough to start D&R on Vulcan then, they dead (also Arianespace thanks to idiots of european ministers)
The Vulcan will be ready after 2020
During that time China and India get there reusable Rocket ready for testing (wildcard in this game)

The Game that Blue Origin play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W79dF9b1Pcc
and SpaceX games rule.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAX2H0hpOc4

like Micheal Gorbachev say "Life punishes the latecomer".
mean for ULA and ArianeSpace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2ycDWywGls
 
Blue Origin preparing to resume test flights from West Texas

WASHINGTON — An airspace closure notice published by the Federal Aviation Administration Dec. 9 suggests Blue Origin is preparing to resume test flights of its New Shepard suborbital vehicle after a hiatus of more than a year.

The Notice to Airman, or NOTAM, published by the FAA on its website Dec. 9 closes airspace above Blue Origin’s test site between Dec. 11 and 14, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern each day. The closure is to “provide a safe environment for rocket launch and recovery.”
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http://spacenews.com/blue-origin-preparing-to-resume-test-flights-from-west-texas/
 
Move aside SpaceX! Blue Origin returns to flight with its updated New Shepard tourist spaceship

After more than a year, Jeff Bezos' spacefaring company Blue Origin has returned to spaceflight.

On 12 December, the company launched an updated version of its New Shepard suborbital rocket from a test facility in West Texas and was able to land the vehicle back safely in a move similar to that of SpaceX.
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http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/move-aside-spacex-blue-origin-returns-flight-its-updated-new-shepard-tourist-spaceship-1651266
 
This time Blue Origin only posted a short video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSDHM6iuogI&t=10s
 
Flyaway said:
Move aside SpaceX! Blue Origin returns to flight with its updated New Shepard tourist spaceship

After more than a year, Jeff Bezos' spacefaring company Blue Origin has returned to spaceflight.

On 12 December, the company launched an updated version of its New Shepard suborbital rocket from a test facility in West Texas and was able to land the vehicle back safely in a move similar to that of SpaceX.
Click to expand...

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/move-aside-spacex-blue-origin-returns-flight-its-updated-new-shepard-tourist-spaceship-1651266
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I'll be interested when Blue Origin are actually competing in the same market as SpaceX. Saying that they've somehow beat out SpaceX on re-usability is misunderstanding the huge differences at work here between a suborbital lob like New Shepard and an orbital medium-lift rocket like Falcon 9. Wake me up when New Glenn is flying.
 
One has flown straight up and straight down what, three or four times, reaching about Mach 3? The other has landed, after putting something into orbit, 16 times, including many of those on a friggin' BARG in the middle of the ocean. The two aren't remotely comparable. When Blue Origin is LANDING New Glenn at sea THEN they can say they're in the same class as SpaceX.
 
I think that's a bit harsh. Blue Origin has chosen the path of creating human-rated, reusable rockets and spacecraft from the start rather than adding those features later to cargo-only, disposable rockets as SpaceX has done. Since both companies and the entrepreneurs behind them talk about missions to take human crews to the Moon, Mars or beyond, who's to say which approach will be the right one in the long run? There is room for both and I applaud them both.
 
cluttonfred said:
I think that's a bit harsh. Blue Origin has chosen the path of creating human-rated, reusable rockets and spacecraft from the start rather than adding those features later to cargo-only, disposable rockets as SpaceX has done. Since both companies and the entrepreneurs behind them talk about missions to take human crews to the Moon, Mars or beyond, who's to say which approach will be the right one in the long run? There is room for both and I applaud them both.
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I wish BO all the luck in the world, and I think they'll get there. They just aren't there YET.
 
OTOH, I give them mad props for having an instrumented test dummy called Mannequin Skywalker

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/12/after-14-months-a-new-and-improved-new-shepard-flies-again/
 
sferrin said:
One has flown straight up and straight down what, three or four times, reaching about Mach 3? The other has landed, after putting something into orbit, 16 times, including many of those on a friggin' BARG in the middle of the ocean. The two aren't remotely comparable. When Blue Origin is LANDING New Glenn at sea THEN they can say they're in the same class as SpaceX.
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If you’re going to criticise them at least get the number of flights right as this is the seventh flight and the first with this particular New Sheppherd.
 
cluttonfred said:
Are any of the SpaceX rockets human-rated yet?
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Not yet.

I should clarify that my annoyance isn't with BO. They're doing good and interesting work. It's with reporters and headline writers who say things like "Step aside, SpaceX" when BO is doing something SpaceX has done many times already and under harder conditions.
 
11 Minutes flight view from the Capsule

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZJghIk7_VA


oh Flatearthers, you can buy a ticket and shatter your believe...
 
So what's going on at ~2:30? Just internal reflections?
 
TomS said:
So what's going on at ~2:30? Just internal reflections?
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yes, that Mannequin Skywalker reflection on Window
the capsule is in slow rotating after separation of the Booster
 
cluttonfred said:
Marketing hype aside, those really are big windows. ;-)
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"hype"? Is there somewhere else you'll be able to get a ride like that without being an astronaut?
 
Blue Origin a year away from crewed New Shepard flights

Speaking at the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference (NSRC) here, Jeff Ashby, a former NASA astronaut who is director of safety and mission assurance for Blue Origin, said the Dec. 12 flight of the vehicle from Blue Origin’s test site in West Texas was a major milestone for the company.

That flight featured both a new version of the cylindrical propulsion module as well as “Version 2.0” of its crew capsule, now outfitted with the large windows that are a distinctive feature of the spacecraft. The capsule carried 12 experiments as well as a test dummy, dubbed “Mannequin Skywalker,” to measure the environment a human would experience on those flights.

The flight was the first in more than a year for New Shepard, after the final test flight in October 2016 of the previous version of the vehicle. “We learned a lot from it, which is why you saw the one-year hiatus before we began flying again,” Ashby said. That time allowed the company to make the vehicle more reliable and “human-capable,” he said.
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http://spacenews.com/blue-origin-a-year-away-from-crewed-new-shepard-flights/
 
Discussion of Blue Origin philosophy of operational reusability.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLCd5fxhNH0
 
More testing on BE4 engine from Blue Origin Twitter

"Latest BE-4 engine test footage where we exceeded our Isp targets. We continue to exercise the deep throttling of our full scale 550,000 lbf BE-4, the reusability of our hydrostatic pump bearings and our stable start/stop cycles. More to follow from ongoing tests."

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/950365085091811330
 

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