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The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) mentioned final week that it has issued a business area launch license for Blue Origin’s — Jeff Bezos’ rocket firm — New Glenn launch.
The event got here after the rocket handed its ultimate take a look at, known as a scorching fireplace, the place engines are ignited and the efficiency is measured.
Though Blue Origin is but to announce the ultimate date of the rocket’s first area mission, experiences mentioned that it may happen round January 6, 2025. Earlier, the corporate had mentioned the mission would take off by the tip of 2024 nevertheless it bought delayed as New Glenn had not accomplished its growth to satisfy the deadline.
A profitable launch of the rocket would put Blue Origin in direct competitors with SpaceX whose Falcon 9 rocket has dominated the launch trade.
Here’s a take a look at the options of the New Glenn rocket, and why it’s important for Blue Origin.
What’s the New Glenn rocket?
The New Glenn rocket is a heavy-lift launch automobile which has been named after John Glenn, the NASA astronaut who was the primary American to circle the Earth in 1962.
The 2-stage rocket is round 320 ft tall — as tall as a 32-story constructing — and consists of a 7-metre payload fairing. The primary stage is reusable and powered by seven BE-4 engines, which the corporate claims are the world’s strongest liquefied pure fuel (LNG)-fueled, oxygen-rich staged combustion engines. They generate greater than 3.8 million kilos of thrust.
In line with Blue Origin, the primary stage is designed for no less than 25 flights.
New Glenn’s second stage is powered by two BE-3U engines, which use liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to supply greater than 320,000 kilos of vacuum thrust.
Why is New Glenn important for Blue Origin?
Based by Bezoz in 2000, Blue Origin has registered solely small accomplishments through the years, particularly compared to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which was established in 2002. Thus far, Blue Origin’s most notable success has been a small rocket known as New Shepard that has taken area vacationers and experiments on brief up-and-down flights, in keeping with a report within the New York Occasions.
The corporate is hoping to alter its fortunes with the assistance of the partially reusable New Glenn rocket. It additionally expects to problem Falcon 9’s — additionally {a partially} reusable launch automobile — dominance available in the market. Falcon 9 is taken into account one of the profitable and dependable rockets ever made. It has accomplished extra than 400 missions efficiently through the years.
Nevertheless, the highway to New Glenn’s first area mission has been bumpy. As an illustration, its first mission was imagined to happen in late October 2024 when it needed to carry two small Mars-bound orbiters for NASA. However the area company pulled the spacecraft off when it realised that Blue Origin wouldn’t be prepared in time.
The January mission of the New Glenn now includes launching know-how associated to the corporate’s Blue Ring program, a line of enterprise that may provide manoeuvrable spacecraft to the Pentagon, in keeping with a report by Reuters.
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