{"id":44833,"date":"2024-09-24T18:08:27","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T10:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/for-the-first-time-blue-origin-has-ignited-an-orbital-rocket-stage\/"},"modified":"2024-09-24T18:08:27","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T10:08:27","slug":"for-the-first-time-blue-origin-has-ignited-an-orbital-rocket-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/for-the-first-time-blue-origin-has-ignited-an-orbital-rocket-stage\/","title":{"rendered":"For the first time, Blue Origin has ignited an orbital rocket stage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Twenty days after it rolled out to Blue Origin\u2019s launch site in Florida, the second stage of the massive New Glenn rocket underwent a successful hot-fire test on Monday.<\/p>\n<p style=\"\">The second stage\u2014known as GS2 for Glenn stage 2\u2014ignited for 15 seconds as part of the \u201crisk reduction\u201d hot-fire test, the company said. The two BE-3U engines, fueled by liquid oxygen and hydrogen and each producing 173,000 pounds of thrust, burned with a nearly transparent flame that approached a temperature of 6,000\u00b0 Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n<p>This marked the first time that Blue Origin, a space company founded by Jeff Bezos more than two decades ago, has integrated and fired an orbital rocket stage. After the test, Blue Origin said it is still tracking toward a November launch of the New Glenn rocket.<\/p>\n<h2>A big boy<\/h2>\n<p>This vehicle is really big, standing 320 feet (98 meters) tall. By comparison, NASA\u2019s titanic Saturn V Moon rocket was 363 feet tall. New Glenn\u2019s first stage will be powered by seven BE-4 rocket engines, which burn methane and liquid oxygen. The performance of these engines has previously been demonstrated in flight on the debut of United Launch Alliance\u2019s Vulcan rocket at the beginning of this year.<\/p>\n<p>Although Monday\u2019s test checked an important box for Blue Origin, there is still much work to do to prepare the New Glenn rocket for its debut. Crucially, the company must complete assembly of the first stage, and then roll this vehicle out from its assembly building a couple of miles to Launch Complex-36, along the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: static; visibility: visible; width: 560px; height: 315px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1838366663684616582&amp;lang=en&amp;maxWidth=560px&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Farstechnica.com%2Fspace%2F2024%2F09%2Fblue-origin-completes-second-stage-hot-fire-test-of-large-new-rocket%2F&amp;partner=tfwp&amp;sessionId=2fa2fa386ffe4cb8a41fc1bc20cccb27e5512106&amp;siteScreenName=arstechnica&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"1838366663684616582\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Then, the first and second stages will be mated. This is a complex endeavor, and as it will be the first time technicians and engineers from Blue Origin attempt the procedure, they will undoubtedly find some issues that need to be addressed. After the vehicles are integrated, the combined stack is due to undergo a short hot-fire test. Following a review of this data, the company is expected to launch the vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>,<\/p>\n<h2>Foot on the pedal<\/h2>\n<p>Bezos has been pressing hard for a launch of New Glenn this year, but time is running short. Blue Origin already had to stand down from an October launch attempt and delay the launch of a small Mars-bound payload for NASA called ESCAPADE.<\/p>\n<p>After that delay, Blue Origin\u2019s chief executive, Dave Limp, told employees they had to continue pressing ahead. \u201cWe can\u2019t take our foot off the pedal here,\u201d Limp wrote in an email to his team. \u201cEveryone\u2019s work to get us to NG-1 flight this year is critical and I\u2019m so appreciative of everyone\u2019s relentless dedication to make this happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Whether or not the company will meet this deadline depends upon a number of factors. One is weather, with an as-yet unformed hurricane, which will be named Helene, likely to graze Florida\u2019s space coast later this week. Additional tropical disruptions are possible later in the Atlantic hurricane season.<\/p>\n<p>But probably the most important factor is the truism of rocketry. Inevitably, when stages are combined, difficulties are found in the integration of large vehicles. Perhaps a connector size changed, slightly, between a design review and the hardware\u2019s actual construction. Maybe there are software issues. Lines from ground support equipment might be just a little bit off. It is likely the extent of these problems, and how long it takes to address them, that will ultimately drive the schedule for New Glenn\u2019s debut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Twenty days after it rolled out to Blue Origin\u2019s launch site in Florida, the second stage of the massive New Glenn rocket underwent a successful hot-fire test on Monday. The second stage\u2014known as GS2 for Glenn stage 2\u2014ignited for 15 seconds as part of the \u201crisk reduction\u201d hot-fire test, the company said. The two BE-3U [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[509,510,21],"class_list":["post-44833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-blue-origin","tag-new-glenn","tag-space"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44833"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}