We now have both an official launch timeframe and a progress report relating to New Glenn’s current status. As of right now, the company has less than two months of time to get the first New Glenn vertical on the pad and counting down toward liftoff. That is, if they want the first launch to send two payloads to Mars apart of the ESCAPADE mission.
What’s important is that despite the time crunch, Blue Origin has remained adamant about launching on schedule. Here I will go more in-depth into the current state of the vehicle, the countdown to launch, what still needs to be completed, and more.
A Small Window
The launch timeframe for the ESCAPADE mission is October 13th to October 21st. In other words, there is about a week-long timespan before it’s likely that a different vehicle will send the payloads on their mission.
With those dates in mind, we can focus on Blue Origin and its progress on the first flight-capable New Glenn. Only a few days ago on the 27th they tweeted saying, “Hello, mate. We recently completed our final major mate operation on New Glenn’s 188-foot (57 meter) first stage, merging the aft with the mid-module.” This included an image of the massive booster coming together.
It also revealed more details regarding the current state of the vehicle. For example, while the mate of the aft and mid modules is significant, there still is a handful of work left. This includes the installation of all 7 BE-4 engines, New Glenn’s massive strakes, and additional technology.
In response to this image, Dave Limp, the Blue Origin CEO, shared some of his thoughts and insights. Here he was quoted saying, “GS1’s heart is the aft module, which contains most of the stage’s avionics, hydraulics, fluids, pneumatic systems, and landing gear. Its primary purpose is to distribute the thrust load from our seven BE-4 engines to the rest of the vehicle. Up next: Integrating all the BE-4s (all 7 engine builds are complete), two strakes, and the base heat shield panels that protect the engines from re-entry heating” he said.
This statement helps put in perspective the time pressure mounting on the company. While it’s possible they can complete some of the final physical preparations over the next 7 weeks, when you add on the pre-launch activities and final prep, the launch timeframe becomes extremely ambitious.
To lay it all out, before October 21st, Blue Origin needs to integrate 7 BE-4 engines, install the base heat shield panels, add two massive strakes, complete a wet dress rehearsal and static fire, and integrate and encapsulate the two payloads, not to mention all the additional smaller items necessary before a rocket launch.
This is also assuming everything goes perfectly. This is a maiden flight, after all, meaning a lot of the upcoming milestones for the company will be firsts. If something were to go wrong, in practically any of the steps I mentioned prior, it could add a delay and easily push the flight past the October timeframe.
In another statement, when asked about some of the upcoming steps, Dave Limp was quoted saying, “Still lots to do but progress… A bunch of milestones coming up in quick succession (not an exhaustive list) – engines integration, our landing barge arriving soon, hotfiring second stage… And yes, lots of unique challenges as our first flight, but folks are excited and leaning in big-time” he said.
The next few weeks will be extremely important if New Glenn wants to lift off in October. We can expect more and more updates from the company as they finish some of the final steps. It seems like all hands are on deck at Blue Origin as they push toward this milestone.
What’s important to point out is that even if they do miss the launch timeframe for the two ESCAPADE spacecraft, it’s not the end of the world. They will likely just launch the vehicle without a payload in the following months when the rocket is ready. As for the payloads, since day 1 NASA classified them as Class D, which basically means they are low priority and high risk.
With everything considered, it would be very impressive if New Glenn is ready by mid-October, but also don’t be surprised if it gets pushed back and launches without a payload instead.
New Challenges
Only days ago, NASA officially invited the media to New Glenn’s first launch. Here in a statement, they said, “NASA and Blue Origin are preparing for the agency’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) mission, which begins on the inaugural launch of the company’s New Glenn rocket. The mission will study the solar wind’s interaction with the magnetosphere on Mars. Blue Origin is targeting no earlier than Sunday, Oct. 13, for the launch of New Glenn-1 from Space Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.”
On this launch, the ESCAPADE mission will use two identical spacecraft to investigate how the solar wind interacts with the hybrid magnetosphere on Mars and how this interaction drives the planet’s atmospheric escape. The mission is funded by NASA’s Heliophysics Division and is part of the NASA Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration program.
The ESCAPADE mission is led by the University of California, Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory, and the spacecraft is designed by Rocket Lab. The agency’s Launch Services Program, based at NASA Kennedy, secured the launch service under the VADR (Venture-class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) contract.
In an image provided by the agency, the identical dual spacecraft are inspected and processed on dollies in a high bay of the Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Aug. 22. As the first multi-spacecraft orbital science mission to Mars, ESCAPADE’s twin orbiters will take simultaneous observations from different locations around the planet and reveal the real-time response to space weather and how the Martian magnetosphere changes over time. Even though the mission is classified as high risk, it’s important to get these satellites to Mars on time and in one piece.
In reality, New Glenn could launch much more than just these two satellites. Standing at 322 feet (98m) tall, New Glenn is a massive vehicle. It also has lofty goals including landing the first stage out at sea, refurbishing it, and reusing it up to 25 times. Taking a closer look at the design and build of the rocket helps highlight the work teams have ahead of them as they make the push toward a maiden flight.
At the bottom, the aft module of the booster, which we just saw integrated, contains seven BE-4 LOX/LNG engines with (3,850,000 lbf) total thrust at sea level. Even though these engines are applicable to many vehicles such as Vulcan, in a way they were designed specifically for New Glenn. From the beginning, Blue Origin highlights that BE-4 was designed to be a medium-performing version of a high-performance architecture. A design choice intended to lower development risk while meeting performance, schedule and especially reusability requirements.
Below these engines, the 8.5 m (28 ft) diameter engine skirt protects the engines from atmospheric reentry conditions and contains six stowed landing gear. We recently saw this system being tested, extending all six of the landing legs
The mid module of the booster (which was the other section we saw integrated with the aft module) houses the fuel and oxidizer tanks. The tanks are made of orthogrid aluminum and are designed to withstand the high g-loads realized during reentry. Large aerodynamic strakes on the aft end of the tanks give the returning first stage enhanced cross-range during descent and re-entry. For the landing attempt, these will play an important role in getting the booster to its general destination.
When it’s making its final approach for landing, the fins will be mainly responsible for control. These are four actuated aerodynamic control surfaces for attitude adjustment during the first stage’s descent and landing. Each of the fins is about the size of a car—roughly 16 feet long at the base and sticking out 6.5 feet from the body of the rocket.
Dave Limp did confirm that the landing barge is arriving soon. By now it’s practically complete and ready for a booster to attempt to touchdown on it. Initial estimates put the platform size at around 150ft by 380ft or 46m by 115m. A process we can hope to see in action not too long from now.
The original plan was to use a ship, named Jacklyn, however that was changed. Around the time of the news that the ship was no longer being used, the port director, highlighted that the process of converting the ship into a landing platform had gone too far to convert it back to a cargo vessel, which was why it was scrapped, but did not state why the conversion had stopped.
In addition, a Blue Origin Spokesperson said, “Blue Origin is committed to safe and cost-effective access to space, and after careful consideration have made the decision to transition away from the Jacklyn as a landing solution.” In reality, the company likely determined this specific approach brought various concerns including cost, complexity, schedule, etc. Now instead we get a landing barge which Blue Origin believes is the best option for New Glenn.
Conclusion
After many years of work and development, Blue Origin is set to launch New Glenn in only months. That being said, the current launch timeframe gives the company less than two months to complete a lot of pre-launch construction and testing. All of which being done for the first time with this new vehicle.