Space News reports, “Companies that are fielding new launch vehicles are now facing the challenge of scaling up operations to meet the continued high demand for them. During a panel discussion at World Space Business Week here Sept. 16, executives with several launch companies that have or are about to introduce new launch vehicles say they are turning their attention to increasing their launch cadence. Among the most aggressive is Blue Origin, whose New Glenn rocket is scheduled to make its inaugural launch as soon as November.”
Full Story (Space News)
Tag: New Glenn Launch Vehicle
Blue Origin Conducts Hot Fire Test on New Glenn’s Upper Stage
Aviation Week reports, “Blue Origin on Sept. 23 conducted a 15-sec. hot fire of the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen-fueled upper stage for its first New Glenn rocket, in what the company called a critical milestone on the road to flight. The static test fire at Space Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral SFS marked Blue Origin’s first fueling of a New Glenn rocket stage with flight propellants, and the first engine burn of an integrated flight stage.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Blue Origin Receives USSF Funding for Integration Studies Related to New Glenn Launch Vehicle
Space News reports that Blue Origin “has secured a contract with the U.S. Space Force for integration studies related to its New Glenn launch vehicle.” The new agreement “marks a significant step in Blue Origin’s potential participation in the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 program, a multi-billion dollar procurement of launch services for national security satellites.” The Space Force “awarded Blue Origin nearly $18 million for ‘National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 2 early integration studies to assess launch vehicle trajectory and mission design, coupled launch loads, and integrated thermal environments to inform compatibility between launch vehicles and space vehicles for missions planned in fiscal years 2025 and 2026.’”
Full Story (Space News)
Blue Origin’s New Glenn Rocket Launches on its Inaugural Flight
Scientific American reports, “A few minutes after 2:00 A.M. EST, a hulking, 320-foot-tall rocket slipped its tethers at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and heaved itself into the sky on a bluish-white pillar of flame, briefly turning night into day along the eastern shore of Florida’s Space Coast. About 8 minutes later, the rocket’s large, first-stage booster failed to stick its landing on a barge in the Atlantic—not exactly the desired outcome, but not unusual for the first attempt to land a booster upright.”
Full Story (Scientific American)
More Info (AIAA Statement)
Video
New Glenn at liftoff during the NG-1 mission, January 16, 2025. (Launch at 04:00:41 mark)
(NASASpaceflight; YouTube)