Misplaced Pages

Latest revision as of 16:03, 10 January 2025

New Glenn

New Glenn debut on the launch pad, February 2024
Function	Heavy-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer	Blue Origin
Country of origin	United States
Project cost	At least US$2.5 billion
Cost per launch	$68 million
Size
Height	98 m (322 ft)
Diameter	7 m (23 ft)
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	45,000 kg (99,000 lb)
Payload to GTO
Mass	13,600 kg (30,000 lb)
Payload to TLI
Mass	7,000 kg (15,000 lb)
Associated rockets
Comparable	Ariane 6 Falcon Heavy Long March 5 Vulcan Centaur
Launch history
Status	In development
Launch sites	Cape Canaveral, LC‑36 Vandenberg, SLC‑9 (future)
First flight	NET January 12, 2025, 06:00:00 (2025-01-12UTC06Z) UTC (01:00 am EST)
Type of passengers/cargo	Blue Moon NSSL
First stage – GS1
Height	57.5 m (189 ft)
Diameter	7 m (23 ft)
Powered by	7 × BE-4
Maximum thrust	17,100 kN (3,850,000 lbf)
Propellant	LOX / CH4
Second stage – GS2
Height	23.4 m (77 ft)
Diameter	7 m (23 ft)
Powered by	2 × BE-3U
Maximum thrust	1,540 kN (346,000 lbf)
Propellant	LOX / LH2
[edit on Wikidata]

New Glenn is a heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by the American company Blue Origin. The rocket features a partially reusable, two-stage design with a diameter of 7 meters (23 ft). The first stage is powered by seven BE-4 engines, while the second stage relies on two BE-3U engines, all designed and built in-house by Blue Origin. It is set to launch from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 36, with future missions planned from Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 9.

Development of New Glenn began prior to 2013 and was officially announced in 2016. The rocket is named in honor of NASA astronaut John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth. The inaugural vehicle was unveiled on the launch pad in February 2024. Its maiden flight is scheduled no earlier than 12 January 2025, carrying a prototype Blue Ring spacecraft. This mission will serve as the first of several demonstration launches required to be certified for use by the National Security Space Launch program.

Similar to Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital rocket, used for space tourism, the New Glenn’s first stage was designed to be reusable, landing on a barge called Landing Platform Vessel 1. In 2021, the company launched Project Jarvis, an initiative aimed at making the second stage reusable as well.

History

After initiating the development of an orbital rocket system prior to 2012, and stating in 2013 on their website that the first stage would do a powered vertical landing and be reusable, Blue Origin publicly announced their orbital launch vehicle intentions in September 2015. In January 2016, Blue Origin indicated that the new rocket would be many times larger than New Shepard even though it would be the smallest of the family of Blue Origin orbital vehicles. Blue Origin publicly released the high-level design of the vehicle and announced the name New Glenn—with both two-stage and three-stage variants planned—in September 2016.

Early design work on orbital subsystems

Blue Origin began developing systems for orbital human spacecraft prior to 2012. A reusable first-stage booster was projected to fly a suborbital trajectory, taking off vertically like the booster stage of a conventional multistage launch vehicle. Following stage separation, the upper stage would continue to propel astronauts to orbit while the first-stage booster would descend to perform a powered vertical landing similar to its New Shepard suborbital vehicle. From the earliest design concepts, the first-stage booster was to be refueled and relaunched to reduce costs of access for humans to space.

The booster launch vehicle was projected to lift Blue Origin's biconic Space Vehicle capsule to orbit, carrying astronauts and supplies. After completing its mission in orbit, the Space Vehicle was also conceptually designed to reenter Earth's atmosphere and land under parachutes on land, to be reused on future missions.

Engine testing for the (then-named) Reusable Booster System (RBS) launch vehicle began in 2012. A full-power test of the thrust chamber for Blue Origin BE-3 liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen upper-stage rocket engine (BE-3U) was conducted on a stand at the John C. Stennis Space Center (NASA test facility) in October 2012. The chamber successfully achieved full thrust of 100,000 lbf (about 440 kN). By early 2018, it was announced that the BE-3U hydrolox engine would power the second stage of the New Glenn.

Development

Design work on the vehicle began in 2012, with the beginning of BE-4 engine development. Further plans for an orbital launch vehicle were made public in 2015. In mid-2016, the launch vehicle was briefly referred to publicly by the placeholder name of "Very Big Brother". It was stated to be a two-stage-to-orbit liquid-propellant rocket, with the launcher intended to be reusable. In early 2016, Blue Origin indicated that the first orbital launch was expected no earlier than 2020 from the Florida launch facility, and in September 2017 continued to forecast a 2020 debut. In a February 2016 interview, Blue Origin president Rob Meyerson referred to engine development and orbital launch vehicle milestones.

The vehicle itself, and the high-level specifications, were initially publicly unveiled in September 2016. New Glenn was described as a 7 m (23 ft) diameter, two- or three-stage rocket, with the first and second stages being liquid methane/liquid oxygen (methalox) designs using Blue Origin engines. The first stage is planned to be reusable and will land vertically, just like the New Shepard suborbital launch vehicle that has been flying suborbitally since the mid-2010s. Although these plans would subsequently change, the 2016 plans called for the first stage to be powered by seven of Blue Origin's BE-4 single-shaft oxygen-rich staged combustion liquid methane/liquid oxygen rocket engines, the second-stage to be powered by a single vacuum-variant of the BE-4 (BE-4U) and the third stage to use a single BE-3 hydrolox engine. In 2016, the first stage was planned to be designed to be reused for up to 100 flights. Blue Origin announced that they intended to launch the rocket from Launch Complex 36 (LC-36), and manufacture the launch vehicles at a new facility to be built on nearby land in Exploration Park. Acceptance testing of the BE-4 engines was also announced to be planned for Florida.

Blue Origin explained in the 12 September 2016 announcement that the rocket would be named New Glenn in honor of the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth, John Glenn, with an inaugural flight planned no earlier than 2020. Three weeks of wind tunnel testing of a scale model New Glenn were completed in September 2016 in order to validate the CFD design models of transonic and supersonic flight.

In March 2017, Jeff Bezos showed graphics of the New Glenn which had two large strakes at the bottom of the booster. In the September 2017 announcement, Blue Origin announced a much larger payload fairing for New Glenn, this one 7 m (23 ft) in diameter, up from 5.4 m (18 ft) in the originally announced design.

By March 2018, the launch vehicle design had changed. It was announced that the New Glenn second stage would now be powered by two vacuum versions of the flight proven BE-3 liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen rocket engine (BE-3U) with a single BE-3U engine for the third stage deep space option. The three-stage booster variant was subsequently cancelled completely in January 2019. By mid-2018, the low-level design was not yet complete and the likelihood of achieving an initial launch by 2020 was being called into question by company engineers, customers, industry experts, and journalists. In October 2018, the Air Force announced Blue Origin was awarded US$500 million for development of New Glenn as a potential competitor in future contracts, including Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) Phase 2. The October 2018 award was terminated in December 2020 after Blue received US$255.5 million of the US$500 million.

By February 2019, several launches for New Glenn had been contracted: five for OneWeb, an unspecified amount of Telesat, one each for Eutelsat, mu Space Corp and SKY Perfect JSAT. In February 2019, Blue Origin indicated that no plans to build a reusable second stage were on the company's roadmap. In the event, by July 2021, Blue Origin was again evaluating options for getting to a reusable second-stage design: Project Jarvis.

In August 2020 the Air Force announced that New Glenn was not selected for the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 launch procurement. Due to this, in February 2021 Blue Origin announced that the first flight would slip to no earlier than late 2022.

By December 2020, Blue Origin indicated that the BE-4 engine delivery to ULA would slip to summer 2021, and ULA disclosed that the first launch of the New Glenn competitor ULA Vulcan Centaur would now be no earlier than 4Q 2021. Blue Origin announced a further schedule slip for the first launch of New Glenn in March 2021 when the company said New Glenn "would not launch until the fourth quarter of 2022, at the earliest".

By 2021, Blue had changed the published reuse specification for New Glenn to a minimum of 25 flights, from the previous design intent of 2016 to support up to 100 flights.

In March 2022, the expected first launch of New Glenn slipped to no earlier than Q4 2023.

In January 2024, the first stage of New Glenn was being transported at Kennedy Space Center from the factory to the launch complex in preparation for a 2024 launch.

In February 2024, a boiler plate of both the first and second stages of New Glenn have been erected on launch pad LC-36 for the first time. This test vehicle was not in flight-ready condition, however, as there were no functioning engines mounted to it. In May 2024, New Glenn was rolled out again for additional testing prior to launch later in the year.

"Jarvis" reusable upper stage

Information became public in July 2021 that Blue Origin had begun a "project to develop a fully reusable upper stage for New Glenn", under the name "Project Jarvis", just as SpaceX is aiming to do with their Starship second stage. If Blue Origin is able to realize such a second stage design and bring it into operational use, New Glenn would become a fully-reusable launch vehicle and would benefit from a substantial reduction in cost per launch.

Beyond the technical changes indicated, Bezos created a new management structure for the new efforts, walling off "parts of the second-stage development program from the rest of Blue Origin its leaders to innovate in an environment unfettered by rigorous management and paperwork processes". However, no indication of the budget allowed to the development of this reusable second-stage was released to the public.

Part of the effort is focusing on developing a stainless steel propellant tank and main structure for the second stage rocket, and evaluating it as a part of a solution for a complete second stage system. In August 2021, Blue Origin rolled a stainless steel test tank to their Launch Complex 36 facility, on which ground pressure testing with cryogenic propellants was to take place.

In addition to the Jarvis team working on a new second stage tank design, Blue Origin set up another team in 2021 to focus on design approaches that might be used to make a New Glenn second stage reusable, something that was not a design objective for the original second stage planned for New Glenn prior to 2021. As of August 2021, three approaches are being explored: adding wings to allow the stage to operate as a spaceplane on reentry; using an aerospike engine on the second stage that could double as a heat shield on reentry; and an approach similar to SpaceX's Starship concept using high-drag flaps in combination with propulsive deceleration. A decision on which approach to take into full development was slated for late 2021.

Inaugural launch

On 12 June 2024 Blue Origin received the communications license for the inaugural flight of New Glenn. The vehicle was selected for the NSSL program with expectation that the inaugural launch would occur no later than December 2024.

Preparations began in earnest in late August for what was to be New Glenn's debut launch, carrying the ESCAPADE mission consisting of two Photon satellites destined for Mars on a VADR contract from NASA. After consultation with NASA, it was decided however to forgo the October launch window to avoid "significant cost, schedule, and technical challenges", as well as the risks of removing fuel from the vehicle in the event of a launch delay.

As of September 2024, the debut launch is planned to be a demonstration launch for the United States Space Force's National Security Space Launch program, carrying a prototype Blue Ring spacecraft platform. The booster for the flight is named So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance, alluding to the difficulty of landing a reusable booster on the first attempt.

Testing continued in October 2024 with successful hot fire tests of the second stage. The completed first stage (GS1) moved to the pad on 30 October 2024 ahead of the first flight.

The Flight 1 vehicle was moved to the launchpad on 20 November 2024 for static fire testing. Full wet dress rehearsal occurred on 19 December 2024, and a 24-second static fire was conducted on 27 December.

Description and technical specifications

The New Glenn is a 7 m (23 ft) diameter two-stage orbital launch vehicle with a reusable first stage and an expendable second stage. An optional third stage was envisaged with a single BE-3U engine, and was planned as of October 2018.

The first stage (GS1) is designed to be reusable for a minimum of 25 flights, and will land vertically, a technology previously developed by Blue Origin and tested in 2015–2016 on its New Shepard suborbital launch vehicle. The second stage (GS2) will share the same diameter and is, "roughly 88 feet (26.8 meters) tall" and will be expendable. Both stages will use orthogrid aluminum tanks with welded aluminum domes and common bulkheads. Both stages will also use autogenous pressurization.

The first stage will be powered by seven BE-4 methane/oxygen engines—designed and manufactured by Blue Origin—producing 17,000 kN (3,800,000 lb_f) of liftoff thrust. The second stage will be powered by two BE-3U vacuum optimized engines, also designed and manufactured by Blue Origin, using hydrogen/oxygen as propellants.

The company stated in 2019 that the planned full operational payload capacity of the two-stage version of New Glenn would be 13,000 kg (29,000 lb) to GTO and 45,000 kg (99,000 lb) to a 51.6° inclined LEO, though the initial operating capability could be somewhat lower. As of 2018, dual-satellite launches were intended to be offered after the first five flights.

Launches of the New Glenn are planned to be made from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, with Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) leased to Blue Origin in 2015 in support of the New Glenn program. As of 2023, Blue Origin and the U.S. Space Force also plan to build a West Coast launch facility for the New Glenn at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, to be called Space Launch Complex 9 (SLC-9).

New Glenn will also be available for space tourism flights, with priority given to customers of New Shepard. The first stage boosters of New Glenn are intended to be reusable, and were originally intended to be recovered downrange on the Atlantic Ocean via their landing platform ship Jacklyn, which would have acted as a floating movable landing platform. The hydrodynamically stabilized ship would have increased the likelihood of successful recovery in rough seas. That ship was scrapped, and a new landing barge named Landing Platform Vessel 1, also nicknamed Jacklyn, was commissioned and became operational in 2024.

Manufacturing

The main assembly of the New Glenn launch vehicle will occur in the Blue Origin rocket manufacturing facility in Florida, near Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) which the company leased from Spaceport Florida. Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) has hosted more than 100 launches, formerly launching the Atlas II and Atlas III.

Tooling and equipment for the factory began to be ordered and built in 2015. In July 2018, the build of the largest device, a 16 m (52 ft) tall × 41 m (135 ft) long × 13 m (43 ft) wide Ingersoll "Mongoose" cryogenic-tank and fairing fabrication machine, was completed after a three-year design/build process. It was to be installed in the Florida facility in Exploration Park later in 2018. As of September 2018, Blue Origin had invested over US$1 billion in its Florida manufacturing facility and launch site, and stated it intended to spend much more going forward.

Launch services

Blue Origin will offer both single-payload dedicated flights and, after the fifth launch, dual-manifesting of large communications satellites to be transported to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). All contracted launches from the start will feature a reusable first-stage, so just like the practice in commercial aircraft transport, landing conditions can affect the timing and flight parameters of a launch.

Launch service customers

By 2018, Blue Origin had contracts in place with four customers for New Glenn flights. Eutelsat, Thailand startup mu Space Corp and SKY Perfect JSAT have geosynchronous orbit communications satellite launches planned after 2020, while internet satellite constellation fleet operator OneWeb had an agreement by 2018 for five launches.

In January 2019, Telesat signed a multi-launch contract "to launch satellites for its future low-Earth-orbit broadband constellation on multiple New Glenn missions" and thus is Blue Origin's fifth customer.

In 2022, Amazon announced that it had contracted 12 flights of New Glenn, with an option for 15 more, for deployment of the Kuiper satellite constellation.

In February 2023, NASA announced that it had selected Blue Origin to launch the ESCAPADE spacecraft to Mars. In May 2024, it was announced the spacecraft had reached substantial completion in preparation for launch later in the year; however NASA subsequently moved the ESCAPADE payload to another launch vehicle.

In November 2024 AST SpaceMobile selected Blue Origin to launch some of its Block 2 satellites.

Schedule-oriented launch cadence

Blue Origin intends to contract its launch services in a different structure compared to contract options that have been traditionally offered in the commercial launch market. The company has stated they will contract to aim to have a regular launch cadence of up to eight launches a year. If one of the payload providers for a multi-payload launch is not ready on time, Blue will hold to the launch timeframe, and fly the remaining payloads on time at no increase in price. This is different from how dual-launch manifested contracts have been traditionally handled by Arianespace (Ariane 5 and Ariane 6) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (H-IIA and H3). SpaceX and International Launch Services can offer dual-launch contracts, but prefer dedicated missions.

Funding

The development and manufacture of the New Glenn is being funded by Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, and the Department of the Air Force. Initially funded entirely by Bezos, after 2019 New Glenn will also receive US$500 million in funding under the United States Space Force National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program. By September 2017, Bezos had invested US$2.5 billion into New Glenn.

See also

• List of New Glenn launches
• Space launch market competition
• Falcon Heavy (SpaceX)
• Ariane 6 (Arianespace)
• Vulcan Centaur (United Launch Alliance)
• SpaceX Starship
• Space Launch System (NASA/Boeing), not intended for commercial satellite launch
• Saturn C-3 (1962 NASA Saturn design for Apollo EOR), same lift capacity
• Comparison of orbital launch systems
• Comparison of orbital launchers families
• Blue Origin recovery vessel

References

1. Foust, Jeff (30 March 2019). "Blue Origin Studying Repurposing of New Glenn Upper Stages". Space.com. Archived from the original on 26 April 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
2. Sheetz, Michael (5 April 2022). "Amazon signs massive rocket deal with 3 firms, including Bezos' Blue Origin, to launch internet satellites". CNBC. Archived from the original on 11 June 2024. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
3. "Inside look at the New Glenn 7 meter fairing". youtube.com. 3 March 2020. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
4. ^ Berger, Eric (7 March 2017). "Blue Origin releases details of its monster orbital rocket". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 10 December 2019. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
5. ^ Foust, Jeff (7 March 2017). "Eutelsat first customer for Blue Origin's New Glenn". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
6. "Performance Website - Home". elvperf.ksc.nasa.gov. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
7. "Status Blue Ring Pathfinder (Maiden Flight)". NextSpaceflight. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
8. ^ "About Blue". Blue Origin. Archived from the original on 25 March 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
9. ^ Foust, Jeff (15 September 2015). "Bezos Not Concerned About Competition, Possible ULA Sale". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 18 December 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
10. Howell, Elizabeth (29 February 2016). "Blue Origin: Quiet Plans for Spaceships". SPACE.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2016. already more than three years into development of our first orbital vehicle ... Though it will be the small vehicle in our orbital family, it's still many times larger than New Shepard. hope to share details about this first orbital vehicle this year
11. ^ Bergin, Chris (12 September 2016). "Blue Origin introduce the New Glenn orbital LV". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
12. "Blue Origin tests 100k lb LOX/LH2 engine in commercial crew program". NewSpace Watch. 16 October 2012. Archived from the original on 4 August 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2012.
13. Henry, Caleb (29 March 2018). "Blue Origin switches engines for New Glenn second stage". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 29 March 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
14. ^ Burghardt, Thomas (20 September 2018). "Building on New Shepard, Blue Origin to pump a billion dollars into New Glenn readiness". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
15. Berger, Eric (9 March 2016). "Behind the curtain: Ars goes inside Blue Origin's secretive rocket factory". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
16. ^ Boyle, Alan (5 March 2016). "Jeff Bezos lifts curtain on Blue Origin rocket factory, lays out grand plan for space travel that spans hundreds of years". GeekWire. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
17. ^ Harwood, William (15 September 2015). "Jeff Bezos plans to boost humans into space from Cape Canaveral". CBS News. Archived from the original on 22 August 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2015. Bezos: "You cannot afford to be a space-fairing civilization if you throw the rocket away every time you use it. ... We have to be focused on reusability, we have to be focused on lowering the cost of space."
18. ^ Henry, Caleb (12 September 2017). "Blue Origin enlarges New Glenn's payload fairing, preparing to debut upgraded New Shepard". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
19. Foust, Jeff (30 September 2015). "Blue Origin Reaches Milestone in BE-4 Engine Development". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
20. Foust, Jeff (25 January 2016). "Blue Origin to ramp up New Shepard tests". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
21. Clark, Stephen (17 September 2014). "ULA taps Blue Origin for powerful new rocket engine". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 30 August 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
22. Victor, Daniel (12 September 2016). "Meet New Glenn, the Blue Origin Rocket That May Someday Take You to Space". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
23. Boyle, Alan (26 September 2016). "Jeff Bezos says Blue Origin's New Glenn orbital rocket aces wind tunnel tests". GeekWire. Archived from the original on 25 March 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
24. Bezos, Jeff (26 September 2016). "Exciting results..." twitter.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
25. Jeff Bezos' interview at Satellite 2017 (23 min) Archived 18 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine, circa March 2017
26. Wall, Mike (22 January 2019). "Blue Origin Video Shows Off Updated Design of Huge New Glenn Rocket". SPACE.com. Archived from the original on 25 January 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
27. Johnson, Eric M. (2 August 2018). "Bezos throws cash, engineers at rocket program as space race accelerates". Reuters. Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
28. Berger, Eric (24 July 2018). "Four huge rockets are due to debut in 2020 — will any make it?". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018. a sense of urgency in Europe about the need to begin flying the Ariane 6 to become more competitive with the likes of SpaceX ... Like ArianeGroup, United Launch Alliance (ULA) has developed a new rocket with the intention to compete with SpaceX.
29. Erwin, Sandra (10 October 2018). "Air Force awards launch vehicle development contracts to Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, ULA". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
30. ^ "Blue Origin delays first launch of New Glenn to late 2022". SpaceNews. 25 February 2021. Archived from the original on 22 September 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
31. Boyle, Alan (10 October 2018). "Blue Origin resets schedule: First crew to space in 2019, first orbital launch in 2021". GeekWire. Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
32. Clark, Stephen. "Telesat taps Blue Origin to launch broadband satellite fleet". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
33. ^ Foust, Jeff (26 September 2017). "Blue Origin signs up third customer for New Glenn". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
34. ^ Clark, Stephen (13 April 2018). "Blue Origin's orbital rocket in the running to receive U.S. military investment". spaceflightnow.com. Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 29 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
35. ^ Foust, Jeff (12 February 2019). "Mowry: reusing the second stage of New Glenn is not on our roadmap right now; really hard problem technically. #CST2019" (Tweet). Retrieved 11 December 2019 – via Twitter.
36. ^ Berger, Eric (27 July 2021). "Blue Origin has a secret project named "Jarvis" to compete with SpaceX". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
37. Roulette, Joey (18 December 2020). "Bezos' Blue Origin to deliver first flight-ready rocket engines next summer – ULA CEO". Reuters. Archived from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
38. Berger, Eric (1 March 2021). "Blue Origin's massive New Glenn rocket is delayed for years. What went wrong?". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
39. ^ "New Glenn". Blue Origin. 20 May 2021. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2019. New Glenn's fully reusable first stage is designed for a minimum of 25 flights, making it competitive for a variety of launch markets.
40. Foust, Jeff (23 March 2022). "Vulcan Centaur on schedule for first launch in 2022 as New Glenn slips". SpaceNews. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
41. Tribout, Richard (10 January 2024). "Mammoth rocket stage for Blue Origin New Glenn goes for sideways ride on Space Coast". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on 10 January 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
42. "Blue Origin Debuts New Glenn on Our Launch Pad". Blue Origin. Archived from the original on 22 February 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
43. "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Archived from the original on 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
44. ^ Berger, Eric (24 August 2021). "First images of Blue Origin's "Project Jarvis" test tank". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 24 August 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
45. "FCC Space Licenses (@FccSpace) on X". Archived from the original on 13 June 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
46. Sheetz, Michael (13 June 2024). "Bezos' Blue Origin joins SpaceX, ULA in winning bids for $5.6 billion Pentagon rocket program". CNBC. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
47. Mike Wall (4 September 2024). "Blue Origin droneship arrives in Florida ahead of 1st New Glenn launch (video, photos)". Space.com. Archived from the original on 5 September 2024. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
48. ^ "New Glenn Inaugural Flight". Next Spaceflight. 6 September 2024. Archived from the original on 10 September 2024. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
49. Limp, Dave (13 September 2024). "We have a cool history naming key Blue hardware that dates back to New Shepard. We're calling New Glenn's first booster "So You're Telling Me There's a Chance." Why? No one has landed a reusable booster on the first try. Yet, we're going for it, and humbly submit having good confidence in landing it. But like I said a couple of weeks ago, if we don't, we'll learn and keep trying until we do" (Tweet). Retrieved 13 September 2024 – via Twitter.
50. "New Glenn Completes Second Stage Hotfire". Blue Origin. Archived from the original on 10 November 2024. Retrieved 21 October 2024.
51. "Dave Limp (@davill) on X". Archived from the original on 7 November 2024. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
52. "Blue Origin (@blueorigin) on X". Archived from the original on 5 December 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
53. Tribou, Richard; Sentinel, Orlando. "Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket goes vertical on the launch pad". phys.org. Archived from the original on 25 November 2024. Retrieved 28 November 2024.
54. Edwards, Brooke. "Blue Origin New Glenn launch date inches closer as rocket sees testing at Cape Canaveral". Florida Today. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
55. Berger, Eric (27 December 2024). "After a 24-second test of its engines, the New Glenn rocket is ready to fly". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 28 December 2024. Retrieved 27 December 2024.
56. ^ "New Glenn Payload User Guide". Blue Origin. October 2018. Archived from the original on 14 May 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
57. ^ Giulia Guerrieri (9 September 2022). "Vulcan Centaur and New Glenn". impulso.space. Archived from the original on 16 August 2024. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
58. ^ Tim Dodd (15 August 2024). First Look Inside Blue Origin's New Glenn Factory w/ Jeff Bezos!. Everyday Astronaut. rsuqSn7ifpU on YouTube.
59. "New Glenn Completes Second Stage Hotfire". Blue Origin. 23 September 2024. Archived from the original on 10 November 2024. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
60. Henry, Caleb (12 July 2018). "Blue Origin to offer dual launch with New Glenn after fifth mission". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
61. "Staff Report" (PDF). California Coastal Commission. 30 November 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
62. Berger, Eric (6 October 2016). "Blue Origin just validated the new space movement". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 7 August 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
63. Guerrero, Isaac (17 July 2018). "Rockford-made machine to build parts for next-generation rockets". Rockford Star. Retrieved 3 August 2018. It took three years to design and manufacture the Sasquatch-sized machine, which stands 51 feet tall, 136 feet long and 43 feet wide. The machine ... will manufacture cryogenic tanks that will be filled with liquid oxygen and hydrogen to fuel rockets. The machine also will build fairings
64. "New Glenn First Stage Tank Production". Blue Origin. 5 March 2020.
65. ^ Henry, Caleb (12 July 2018). "Blue Origin to offer dual launch with New Glenn after fifth mission". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2018. Blue Origin's McFarland said Blue Origin won't let schedule disruptions with one payload impact the co-passenger in dual-launch missions, even if it means splitting the missions in two. "We are not going to hold back or delay a launch", he said. "We are going for a cadence of up to eight times per year where we will launch. If we don't have a second, we still go as a single. So that's the plan, the same price point for the launch service for the customer".
66. Henry, Caleb (12 March 2018). "Blue Origin signs Sky Perfect JSAT as fourth New Glenn launch customer". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
67. Henry, Caleb (31 January 2019). "Telesat signs New Glenn multi-launch agreement with Blue Origin for LEO missions". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
68. Foust, Jeff (5 April 2022). "Amazon signs multibillion-dollar Project Kuiper launch contracts". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
69. Foust, Jeff (25 April 2024). "NASA planning September launch of Mars smallsat mission on first New Glenn". SpaceNews. Archived from the original on 14 June 2024. Retrieved 26 April 2024.
70. "Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) on X".
71. Rainbow, Jason (15 November 2024). "AST SpaceMobile leans on Blue Origin to ramp up satellite launches". SpaceNews. Retrieved 10 January 2025.
72. Berger, Eric (12 September 2016). "Why Bezos' rocket is unprecedented — and worth taking seriously". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
73. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: "Air Force awards three Launch Service Agreements". U.S. Air Force. 10 October 2018. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2019.

External links

• Official website
• New Glenn: The Road to Space on YouTube by Blue Origin
• Tim Dodd (15 August 2024). First Look Inside Blue Origin's New Glenn Factory w/ Jeff Bezos!. Everyday Astronaut. rsuqSn7ifpU on YouTube.
• Space Offshore – New Glenn recovery vessel updates

v t e Blue Origin
Vehicles	Charon Goddard PM2 New Shepard Propulsion modules Tail 1 Tail 2 Tail 3 Tail 4 Tail 5 Capsules Jules Verne H.G. Wells First Step Kármán Line New Glenn Blue Moon Blue Ring LPV LPV Jacklyn (ship) LPV1 Jacklyn (barge)
Rocket engines	BE-1 BE-2 BE-3 BE-4 BE-7
Notable spaceflights	NS-15 NS-16 NS-17 NS-18 NS-19 NS-20 NS-21 NS-22 NS-23 NS-24 NS-25 NS-26 NS-27 NS-28
Facilities	Headquarters Kent, Washington Corn Ranch Launch Complex 36 Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 9 Vandenberg
Key people	Jeff Bezos (founder) Dave Limp (CEO) Jeffrey Ashby (chief of mission assurance) Nicholas Patrick (human integration architect)
Related	Commercial astronaut Billionaire space race Blue Origin Federation, LLC v. United States
* – denotes unflown vehicles or engines † – denotes retired vehicles, engines, products ‡ – denotes destroyed vehicles – denotes failed flight

v t e Space tourism
Organizations	Active Axiom Space Bigelow Aerospace Blue Origin Airbus D&S Mojave Aerospace Ventures Orbital Technologies PDAS Redwire Sierra Nevada Corporation Space Adventures SpaceX The Spaceship Company Virgin Galactic CAS Space ARCA Association of Autonomous Astronauts Astronaute Club Européen Commercial Spaceflight Federation Copenhagen Suborbitals Space Frontier Foundation Space Tourism Society Defunct Armadillo Aerospace Canadian Arrow Golden Spike Company MirCorp Orion Span PlanetSpace RocketShip Tours Space Island Group (Space Island Project) XCOR Aerospace
Vehicles	Current Soyuz Dragon 2 New Shepard SpaceShipTwo Future New Glenn SpaceShip III Starliner Starship
Living in space	Commercialization of space Space colonization Space medicine Space settlement Space station Suborbital spaceplane
Space competitions	America's Space Prize Ansari X Prize Google Lunar X Prize Space elevator competitions
Space tourists	Past Dennis Tito Mark Shuttleworth Gregory Olsen Anousheh Ansari Charles Simonyi Richard Garriott Guy Laliberté Oliver Daemen Jared Isaacman Sian Proctor Hayley Arceneaux Christopher Sembroski Yusaku Maezawa Yozo Hirano Larry Connor Mark Pathy Eytan Stibbe John Shoffner
Space tourism missions	Past Inspiration4 Blue Origin NS-16 Blue Origin NS-18 Blue Origin NS-19 Blue Origin NS-20 Blue Origin NS-21 Blue Origin NS-22 Galactic 02 Galactic 03 Galactic 04 Galactic 05 Galactic 06 Axiom-1 Axiom-2 Polaris Dawn Cancelled dearMoon
Related	Axiom Station Tourism on the Moon Tourism on Mars Haven-1

• Blue Origin launch vehicles
• Space tourism
• VTVL rockets
• Proposed reusable launch systems
• John Glenn