WASHINGTON — Blue Origin says it nonetheless plans to try a primary launch of its New Glenn rocket earlier than the tip of the yr because it makes ultimate car and regulatory preparations.
The firm reaffirmed the schedule for the inaugural flight, a mission referred to as NG-1, in a Dec. 9 assertion that additionally disclosed particulars concerning the payload for that flight. The rocket will carry Blue Ring Pathfinder, a payload that can check key applied sciences for its Blue Ring orbital switch car.
Blue Ring Pathfinder consists of a communications array, energy system and flight pc put in on a secondary payload adapter. Those programs can be examined whereas remaining connected to the second stage of the rocket throughout a six-hour mission.
“We’re excited to exhibit Blue Ring’s superior in-space operations on New Glenn’s inaugural mission,” Paul Ebertz, senior vice chairman for in-space programs at Blue Origin, in an organization assertion. “Blue Ring performs a essential position in constructing a street to area, and this mission is a crucial first step for Blue Ring and enabling dynamic and responsive operations that can significantly profit our nation.”
Blue Ring, which Blue Origin introduced in 2023, is a switch car for delivering satellites to their desired orbits and for internet hosting payloads that stay connected. The car has 13 ports that may accommodate 3,000 kilograms of payloads, together with a 2,500-kilogram payload on the highest deck of the car.
Blue Origin stated within the assertion that the NG-1 mission “is prepared for launch this yr” however didn’t present a extra particular schedule. The firm plans to put in Blue Ring Pathfinder on the rocket after a static-fire check of the car’s first stage, which has but to happen.
The firm additionally wants a license from the Federal Aviation Administration, which had not been issued as of Dec. 9. Blue Origin has been performing tanking assessments of the car at Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 36, Chief Executive Dave Limp stated in a Dec. 8 social media post, whereas “we watch for regulatory approvals for hotfire and launch.”
“It’s actually on the pad now ready for regulatory approval. It’s ready for its ultimate regulatory approval to launch, so we’re very, very shut,” Jeff Bezos, founding father of Blue Origin, stated of New Glenn throughout a Dec. 4 dialog on the New York Times DealBook Summit. He additionally was no more particular a few launch date.
Blue Ring Pathfinder was not the unique payload for the primary New Glenn launch. The firm had been working with NASA to make use of that launch for ESCAPADE, a pair of smallsats that can go to Mars to the research the interplay of the planet’s magnetosphere with the photo voltaic wind. However, NASA determined in early September to take away the spacecraft from the launch out of considerations that the car wouldn’t be prepared in time for a launch window in mid-October. NASA is now projecting launching ESCAPADE as quickly as spring 2025 on one other New Glenn.
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