{"id":9966,"date":"2024-11-23T17:42:12","date_gmt":"2024-11-23T09:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/blue-origin-raises-its-first-flight-worthy-new-glenn-into-launch-position-ahead-of-final-testing\/"},"modified":"2024-11-23T17:42:12","modified_gmt":"2024-11-23T09:42:12","slug":"blue-origin-raises-its-first-flight-worthy-new-glenn-into-launch-position-ahead-of-final-testing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/blue-origin-raises-its-first-flight-worthy-new-glenn-into-launch-position-ahead-of-final-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Origin raises its first flight worthy New Glenn into launch position ahead of final testing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket stands at the pad at Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) ahead of the planned hot fire test schedule before its first launch. Image: Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Blue Origin took another step towards the inaugural launch of its New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. For the first time, the company placed a fully integrated, flight-capable rocket on the launch pad Thursday evening.<\/p>\n

The company rolled the rocket out of the hangar at Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) earlier. A static fire test with the full 98-meter-tall (320 ft) rocket is forthcoming, though a specific date hasn\u2019t been announced.<\/p>\n

\u201cUp we go! The steel launch table that New Glenn sits on weighs 1.7 million pounds (roughly 726 metric tons), including the clamps that connect to the vehicle\u2019s aft ring,\u201d said Dave Limp, Blue Origin CEO, in a social media post.<\/p>\n

The upcoming integrated static fire test would be the first time that Blue Origin fuels a full-assembled. flight-ready New Glenn rocket. It previously conducted a static fire test of its upper stage, which saw a 15-second burn of the two BE-3U engines.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe demonstrated its three key systems, including: the tank pressurization control system, which uses helium to pressurize the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks during flight; the thrust vector control system, which gimbals the engines and steers the rocket during flight; and validated the start-up and shut-down sequences for the BE-3U systems, which can be restarted up to three times during a mission,\u201d Blue Origin said in a September press release<\/p>\n

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Blue Origin rolls out its New Glenn rocket to the launch pad at Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. Image: Blue Origin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the Thanksgiving holiday less than a week away, the previously announced November launch date will more likely become December at the earliest. However, Blue Origin hasn\u2019t issued a new target launch date either.<\/p>\n

The original payload of the first New Glenn was originally planned to be NASA\u2019s twin EscaPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) satellites, which will be bound for Mars. However, due to delays in the rocket\u2019s readiness, NASA decided that mission would be delayed until 2025.<\/p>\n

Instead, Blue Origin said it will launch its Blue Ring technology, which it said offers \u201cend-to-end services that span hosting, transportation, refueling, data relay, and logistics, including an \u2018in-space\u2019 edge computing capability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back in March 2024, Blue Origin announced a mission called DarkSky-1 (DS-1), which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense\u2019s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). Blue Origin said that mission was designed to \u201cdemonstrate Blue Origin\u2019s flight systems, including space-based processing capabilities, telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C) hardware, and ground-based radiometric tracking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe lessons learned from this DS-1 mission will provide a leap forward for Blue Ring and its ability to provide greater access to multiple orbits, bringing us closer to our vision of millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth,\u201d said Paul Ebertz, Senior Vice President of Blue Origin\u2019s In-Space Systems, in a statement.<\/p>\n

However, Blue Origin has yet to confirm if the Blue Ring flying on the NG-1 mission will be a fulfillment of the DS-1 mission. It said in its March 2024 statement that DS-1 \u201cis expected to be launched co-manifested on the upper stage of a future National Security Space Launch.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear what the certification process is before New Glenn can fly national security missions. United Launch Alliance\u2019s Vulcan rocket was asked to perform two successful certification flights to proceed with missions on behalf of the U.S. Space Force or the National Reconnaissance Office.<\/p>\n

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Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn stands at Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) after rolling out of the hangar on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024. Image: Blue Origin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Big week for Blue Origin<\/h4>\n

Less than a day after rolling its orbital-class rocket to the pad, Blue Origin launched its ninth suborbital astronaut mission using its New Shepard rocket.<\/p>\n

The mission, dubbed NS-28, lifted off from Launch Site 1 in near Van Horn, Texas, at 9:30 a.m. CST (1530 UTC). The crew capsule, named R.S.S. First Step, landed under the support of three parachutes at about 9:40 a.m. CST (1540 UTC) after reaching an apogee of 347,661 ft AGL (above ground level).<\/p>\n

Among the six-member crew was engineer and STEM educator Emily Caladrelli, who made her first trip above the Karman Line, the internationally recognized boundary of space. By doing so, she became the 100th woman to journey to space.<\/p>\n

After the flight, she spoke to a Blue Origin interviewer and exclaimed, \u201cThat kick in your pants from separation is wild. It is wild. I had to tell my brain, like, this is normal, like, this is expected, it\u2019s supposed to be a kick in the pants.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my gosh, and when we got to weightlessness, I immediately turned upside down and looked at the planet, and then there was so much blackness, there was so much space! I didn\u2019t expect to see so much space!\u201d Calandrelli said. \u201cAnd I kept saying, like, that\u2019s our planet (tearing up). That\u2019s our planet. It was the same feeling I got when my kids were born, and I was like, that\u2019s my baby, that\u2019s my baby. And I like had that same feeling like where I\u2019m seeing it for the first time. It was just beautiful (tears). Oh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n