Blue Origin
Twenty days after it rolled out to Blue Origin’s launch website in Florida, the second stage of the huge New Glenn rocket underwent a profitable hot-fire take a look at on Monday.
The second stage—referred to as GS2 for Glenn stage 2—ignited for 15 seconds as a part of the “threat discount” hot-fire take a look at, the corporate stated. The 2 BE-3U engines, fueled by liquid oxygen and hydrogen and every producing 173,000 kilos of thrust, burned with a virtually clear flame that approached a temperature of 6,000 levels Fahrenheit.
This marked the primary time that Blue Origin, an area firm based by Jeff Bezos greater than twenty years in the past, has built-in and fired an orbital rocket stage. After the take a look at, Blue Origin stated it’s nonetheless monitoring towards a November launch of the New Glenn rocket.
An enormous boy
This car is de facto huge, standing 320 toes (98 meters) tall. By comparability, NASA’s titanic Saturn V Moon rocket was 363 toes tall. New Glenn’s first stage will likely be powered by seven BE-4 rocket engines, which burn methane and liquid oxygen. The efficiency of those engines has beforehand been demonstrated in flight on the debut of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket originally of this yr.
Though Monday’s take a look at checked an essential field for Blue Origin, there’s nonetheless a lot work to do to organize the New Glenn rocket for its debut. Crucially, the corporate should full meeting of the primary stage, after which roll this car out from its meeting constructing a few miles to Launch Advanced-36, alongside the Atlantic Ocean.
Water, smoke, and fireplace from three angles at this time. GS2 hotfire full! https://t.co/DUeh6F8Jws pic.twitter.com/qUjxu52XGI
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) September 23, 2024
Then, the primary and second levels will likely be mated. This can be a complicated endeavor, and as will probably be the primary time technicians and engineers from Blue Origin try the process, they’ll undoubtedly discover some points that must be addressed. After the autos are built-in, the mixed stack is because of bear a brief hot-fire take a look at. Following a evaluation of this information, the corporate is anticipated to launch the car.
Foot on the pedal
Bezos has been urgent exhausting for a launch of New Glenn this yr, however time is operating quick. Blue Origin already needed to stand down from an October launch try and delay the launch of a small Mars-bound payload for NASA referred to as ESCAPADE.
After that delay, Blue Origin’s chief govt, Dave Limp, informed staff they needed to proceed urgent forward. “We will’t take our foot off the pedal right here,” Limp wrote in an electronic mail to his staff. “Everybody’s work to get us to NG-1 flight this yr is vital and I’m so appreciative of everybody’s relentless dedication to make this occur.”
Whether or not or not the corporate will meet this deadline relies upon upon quite a few components. One is climate, with an as-yet unformed hurricane, which will likely be named Helene, prone to graze Florida’s house coast later this week. Extra tropical disruptions are potential later within the Atlantic hurricane season.
However in all probability crucial issue is a truism of rocketry. Inevitably, when levels are mixed, difficulties are discovered within the integration of huge autos. Maybe a connector dimension modified, barely, between a design evaluation and the {hardware}’s precise development. Possibly there are software program points. Strains from floor assist gear may be just a bit bit off. It’s possible the extent of those issues, and the way lengthy it takes to handle them, that can in the end drive the schedule for New Glenn’s debut.