Blue Origin - New Glenn

[propstrap]

Bezos entering the fray again, with New Glenn finally set for its first test flight on 10 January @ 08h00 SAST:

https://www.blueorigin.com/news/new-gle ... january-10

New Glenn is a heavy lift launch vehicle, fitting in between Falcon Heavy and Starship. It has a reusable first stage (like Falcon) which will attempt a landing on a barge at sea.

[propstrap]

Thanks Heisan!

I saw it on CNN, hope the animation works... competition is always good, best wishes to them for the launch!

The question, however, is whether Blue Origin will be able to sustain a competitive price point, Henry added.

Still, one feature that makes New Glenn stand out is its large payload fairing, or nose cone. The component protects the cargo bay and is a whopping 23 feet (7 meters) wide — nearly 6 feet (2 meters) larger than that of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy.

https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/loops/stel ... c=original

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/04/scie ... index.html

[propstrap]

From the Blue Origin website...

We're shifting our NG-1 launch date to no earlier than January 12, due to a high sea state in the Atlantic where we hope to land our booster. Our three-hour window remains the same, opening Sunday at 1 a.m. EST (0600 UTC).

[heisan]

From the Blue Origin website...

We're shifting our NG-1 launch date to no earlier than January 12, due to a high sea state in the Atlantic where we hope to land our booster. Our three-hour window remains the same, opening Sunday at 1 a.m. EST (0600 UTC).

Now targeting Monday morning. Wx predictions look favourable so far.

[heisan]

10 minutes to go:

[heisan]

And scrubbed...

[propstrap]

From the Blue Origin website...

9:07 p.m. EST / 02:07 UTC

We’re moving our NG-1 launch to no earlier than Thursday, January 16. The three-hour launch window opens at 1 a.m. EST (0600 UTC).

[heisan]

T-8 minutes...

[heisan]

A fairly successful launch. Achieved target orbit on first try (which is rare), but stage 1 was lost shortly after re-entry burn start-up for the landing attempt.

This should be a major competitor for the heavy launch segment. (Although it could be very interesting to see Starship's eventual impact on this segment.)

[Clarinet]

My heart was in my mouth watching the lift-off - the thrust seemed very low and it took an age to clear the gantry etc.

[Clarinet]

Apologies re terminology (especially for the pedantic )- tower, not gantry.

[Sunbird]

A fairly successful launch. Achieved target orbit on first try (which is rare), but stage 1 was lost shortly after re-entry burn start-up for the landing attempt.

This should be a major competitor for the heavy launch segment. (Although it could be very interesting to see Starship's eventual impact on this segment.)

The visible difference between Falcon/Starship first stage and New Glenn first stage is well proven Grid Fins versus Flaps for steering and stability coming back down. I wonder whether it played a role. Then again the reusable second stage of Starship has flaps for the belly flop atmospheric braking phase. The final landing phase control is predominantly swivel nozzles for all vehicles, I presume.
Nasa would prefer more than one player in the heavy launch game, so I hope they persevere.

[ijacobs3]

My heart was in my mouth watching the lift-off - the thrust seemed very low and it took an age to clear the gantry etc.

saw that too, it took forever to clear the launch tower, was actually wondering if it was going to go full kerbal,