New Glenn

The New Glenn is a two-stage heavy - lift launch vehicle under development by the US aerospace company Blue Origin . It will be partially reusable and will be used for unmanned and manned missions. The rocket is named after John Glenn , the first US astronaut in orbit .

The first launch is planned for 2021. With a LEO payload of up to 45 tonnes, the New Glenn would then be in direct competition with the Falcon 9 (23 t) and Falcon Heavy (64 t) from SpaceX .

The multi-billion US dollar development is being financed with private funds from Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos . Bezos referred to the New Glenn several times as "the smallest orbital rocket Blue Origin will ever build" and suggested that a larger model called the New Armstrong was already being designed.

Mission profile

Blue Origin is promoting the rocket as a means of transport for people as well as cargo. The latter primarily relates to the launch of satellites into orbit , but missions to the moon are also sought. Company President Rob Meyerson expects millions of people to live and work in space and on the moon in the future. It is also planned to use it for space tourism , the original "core business" of Blue Origin. In addition to commercial applications, Blue Origin is also planning to certify the missile for military missions.

The maximum payload is given as 45 tons for low-earth orbits and 13 tons for geostationary transfer orbits . These numbers refer to a partially reusable configuration. Unlike SpaceX, Blue Origin does not offer single-use use for larger payloads.

construction

The New Glenn will initially consist of two stages; a three-stage variant is being planned. The first stage should be able to land upright after use ( propulsive landing ) and be reusable 25 times. Initially, however, only a 12-fold use is planned. At 96 meters high and 7 meters in diameter, the two-stage New Glenn would be one of the largest rockets ever built.

Blue Origin develops the engines for all stages in-house. The first stage will have seven BE-4 engines with a total of 17,100  kN of thrust. Liquefied methane is used as fuel and liquid oxygen as an oxidizer . The BE-4 works with oxygen-rich combustion in the main flow process ( oxygen-rich staged combustion cycle ), an engine technology originally developed in Russia (see RD-170 ). It is also intended to be the engine for the United Launch Alliance's new Vulcan missile , which helps amortize development costs. The BE-4 should be reusable 100 times.

The second stage receives two BE-3U engines that run on liquid hydrogen and oxygen. A single BE-3U is provided for the third stage . It is a vacuum version of the 490 kN BE-3 engine of the New Shepard tourist rocket .

Two payloads should be able to be transported on top of each other by means of a double launch device.

Production and launch facilities

CC LC-11 / LC-36 Missile factory Engine Plant Huntsville ( AL ) Kent ( WA ) Headquarters, Development Test center in Texas Development Arlington ( VA )

Blue Origin facilities

In 2013, Blue Origin sought a rental of the 39A launch complex at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida . The Apollo missions to the moon and most of the space shuttle flights started from there , which means that the facility is already designed for manned missions. However, the contract was awarded to the competitor SpaceX. Thereupon Blue Origin rented the launch complexes LC-36 and LC-11 of the neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station . The existing devices on the LC-36 for launching Atlas missiles were completely broken off; a new launch system is under construction. ^[obsolete] A test bench for the rocket motors is being built on the directly adjacent LC-11. ^[outdated]

About 15 kilometers to the northwest, near the KSC visitor center, the company built a 750,000 square meter factory to manufacture rockets. In addition to the factory, the mission control center is also being built. In Huntsville (Alabama) arises ^[obsolete] a factory for the BE-4 engines.

First-stage landings are to take place on a drone ship in the Atlantic . Blue Origin has also bought a ship that will be converted accordingly. Landing on land is not planned.

A second launch site is planned at Vandenberg Air Force Base for steeply inclined orbits .

Development history

Blue Origin was working on an orbital rocket with a reusable first stage back in the early 2010s. It was supposed to put a "bi- conical " (double-cone-shaped) spaceship with astronauts or cargo into orbit. In 2011, development of the main engine began.

In contrast to SpaceX, Blue Origin is known to work in secret and only introduce new products once the design is established. The BE-4 was announced in 2014 - together with the United Launch Alliance. Jeff Bezos informed about the planned new factory building on Cape Canaveral in September 2015. The name and concept of the New Glenn were finally presented in September 2016.

Testing of the BE-4 engine began in October 2017. Construction of the first rocket was announced for around the beginning of 2018.

In order to meet the first flight date originally planned for the fourth quarter of 2020, the engine configuration for the second stage was changed at the beginning of 2018. Instead of a vacuum version of the BE-4 ( BE-4U ), two BE-3U are used. The development of this engine is already further advanced.

Planned launches

All of the dates in the following list are intended as a schedule for the earliest possible start date. Rocket launches are often postponed to a later date.

As of March 2, 2020

Date ( UTC )	Launch site	Customer / payload	Type of payload	Payload in kg 1	Orbit 2
4th quarter 2021	CC LC-36	(First flight)
2022	CC LC-36	Eutelsat	Communications satellite		GTO
2022	CC LC-36	mu space	Communications satellite		GTO
2024		Blue moon	Lunar Module
202x	CC LC-36	SKYPerfect JSAT	Communications satellite		GTO
202x	CC LC-36	Telesat	Communication satellites (multiple launches)		LEO

¹Take-off mass of the payload including carried fuel ( wet mass ).

²Path on which the payload is to be released from the top step; not necessarily the target orbit of the payload.

Technical specifications

Data according to Payload User's Guide, Revision C from October 2018:

	First stage	Second step	Payload section
height	57.5 m	approx. 16 m	21.9 m payload max. 18.54 m
Total height	96 m
diameter	7 m		7 m payload max. 6.35 m
Thrust, throttling	17,100 kN 45-100%	1,060 kN 88–100%
fuel	Liquefied natural gas	Liquid hydrogen
Oxidizer	Liquid oxygen
payload	Max. 45 t (LEO) max. 13 t (GTO)

Comparison with other heavy-duty rockets

The most powerful launch vehicles currently available or under development for low earth orbit (LEO) transport are:

	Starship / SH	Long March 9	SLS	Falcon Heavy	New Glenn	Angara A5B	Vulcan Centaur Heavy	Delta IV Heavy
Manufacturer	SpaceX	CALT	Boeing	SpaceX	Blue Origin	Khrunichev	ULA	ULA
stages	2	3	2	2	2	2-3	2	2
Side booster	-	4th	2	2	-	4th	2	2
Max. Payload (LEO)	150 t 3	140 t	95–130 t 1	64 t	45 t 3	37.5 t	35 t	29 t
Max. Payload ( GTO )	20 t (150 t 5 )	66 t	no information	27 t	13 t 3	8 t	16 t	10 t
reusable	Completely	?	No	First stage, side boosters, payload fairing 4	First stage	possibly first stage and side booster	First stage 2 engines	No
interplanetary missions	planned	planned	planned	Yes	possible	planned	planned	Yes
manned missions	planned	planned	planned	not planned	planned	planned	planned	No
First flight	approx. 2021	not before 2028	not before 2021	2018	not before 2021	not before 2027	not before 2023	2004

¹ Maximum of 95 t LEO payload in the first expansion stage of the rocket (Block 1), 105 t in the second (Block 1B) and 130 t in the third (Block 2).

² Planned for a later expansion stage; the engine unit should then return on a parachute and be recovered by helicopter.

³ Maximum payload when reusing all reusable components. A larger payload would be possible without reuse. With the New Glenn this is not planned, with the Starship it is a conceivable option.

⁴ Reuse of payload fairings is planned.

⁵ When refueling in orbit.

Web links

• New Glenn on Blue Origin's website (may be out of date)
• Introducing New Glenn . Video animation of a rocket launch on Youtube (2017)
• Two-minute test run of the BE-4 engine . Youtube video (March 2018)
• New Glenn on Gunter's Space Page
• Blue Origin preparing to enter the orbital arena . Article by Colin Fletcher on Nasaspaceflight.com on May 4, 2020

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Alan Boyle: Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin strikes satellite launch deal with Japan's Sky Perfect JSAT. In: GeekWire. March 12, 2018, accessed March 23, 2018 . 
2. ^ ^{A b} Jeff Foust: Blue Origin opens rocket engine factory. In: Spacenews. February 17, 2020, accessed March 2, 2020 . 
3. ^ Caleb Henry: Blue Origin enlarges New Glenn's payload fairing, preparing to debut upgraded New Shepard. In: spacenews.com. September 12, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2018 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b} Eric Berger: Blue Origin releases details of its monster orbital rocket. In: ars Technica. March 7, 2017, accessed March 23, 2018 . 
5. ^ ^{A b} Alan Boyle: Jeff Bezos introduces Eutelsat as Blue Origin's first New Glenn rocket customer. In: GeekWire. March 7, 2017, accessed March 23, 2018 . 
6. ↑ ^{a b c} New Glenn. Blue Origin, accessed March 23, 2018 . 
7. ↑ Jeff Faust: A changing shade of blue. In: The Space Review. March 19, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018 . 
8. ^ Eric Berger: Blue Origin just validated the new space movement. In: ars Technica. June 10, 2016, accessed March 23, 2018 . 
9. ↑ Stephen Clark: Blue Origin's orbital rocket in the running to receive US military investment. In: Spaceflight Now. April 13, 2018, accessed April 14, 2018 . 
10. ↑ ^{a b} Sandra Erwin: Falcon Heavy's first commercial launch to pave the way for reusable rockets in national security missions. In: Spacenews. March 25, 2019, accessed April 25, 2019 . 
11. ↑ ^{a b} Eric Ralph: SpaceX competitor Blue Origin touts 25-reuse future rocket as R&D continues. In: Teslarati. June 25, 2018, accessed June 26, 2016 . 
12. ↑ ^{a b c} New Glenn Payload User's Guide, Revision C. Blue Origin, October 2018.
13. ↑ Twitter message from Tory Bruno, CEO of United Launch Alliance , September 19, 2019.
14. ↑ William Harwood: ULA touts new Vulcan rocket in competition with SpaceX. In: Spaceflight Now. March 20, 2018, accessed March 23, 2018 . 
15. ^ William Harwood: Bezos rocket engine selected for new Vulcan rocket. In: Spaceflight Now. September 28, 2018. Retrieved September 28, 2018 . 
16. ↑ ^{a b} Caleb Henry: Blue Origin switches engines for New Glenn second stage. In: spacenews.com. March 29, 2018, accessed March 30, 2018 . 
17. ↑ Irene Klotz: Amazon founder Bezos' space company loses challenge over NASA launch pad. Reuters, December 13, 2013, accessed March 23, 2018 . 
18. ↑ Irene Klotz: Blue Origin Prepares to Build Its Florida Rocket Launch Complex. In: space.com. March 10, 2017, accessed March 24, 2018 . 
19. ↑ ^{a b c} Chris Gebhard: Blue Origin remains on course for 2020 debut of New Glenn heavy lift rocket. In: nasaspaceflight.com. November 10, 2017, accessed March 23, 2018 . 
20. ↑ Marco Santana: Blue Origin teases rocket factory opening on Space Coast. In: Orlando Sentinel. December 14, 2017, accessed March 23, 2018 . 
21. ^ Jeff Foust: Blue Origin opens rocket engine factory. In: Spacenews. February 17, 2019, accessed February 18, 2019 . 
22. ↑ About Blue Origin . Archived on September 19, 2012.
23. ↑ ^{a b} Stephen Clark: ULA taps Blue Origin for powerful new rocket engine. In: Spaceflight Now. September 17, 2014, accessed March 24, 2018 . 
24. ^ Jeff Foust: Blue Origin expects BE-4 qualification tests to be done by year's end. In: Spacenews. April 19, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2018 . 
25. ↑ William Hardood: Jeff Bezos plans to boost humans into space from Cape Canaveral. In: CBS News. September 15, 2015, accessed March 24, 2018 . 
26. ↑ Chris Bergin, William Graham: Blue Origin introduce the New Glenn orbital LV. In: nasaspaceflight.com. September 12, 2016, accessed March 23, 2018 . 
27. ↑ Chris Bergin, Chris Gebhardt: Blue Origin ramping up BE-4 engine testing. In: nasaspaceflight.com. January 8, 2018, accessed March 23, 2018 . 
28. ^ Jeff Foust: Blue Origin signs up third customer for New Glenn. In: spacenews.com. September 26, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2018 . 
29. ↑ Eutelsat signs up for Blue Origin's New Glenn launcher. Eutelsat, March 7, 2017, accessed March 23, 2018 . 
30. ↑ Thai startup mu Space secured its first customer for capacity on its upcoming high-throughput satellite. In: Space News First Up Satcom. September 11, 2019, accessed September 11, 2019 . 
31. ↑ US expects to rocket ahead in space during 2020. In: Space Daily. December 27, 2019, accessed January 25, 2020 . 
32. ↑ Caleb Henry: Telesat signs New Glenn multi-launch agreement with Blue Origin for LEO missions. In: Spacenews. January 31, 2019, accessed January 31, 2019 . 
33. ↑ Caleb Henry: SpaceX targets 2021 commercial Starship launch. In: Spacenews. June 28, 2019, accessed June 28, 2019 . 
34. ^ Sandra Erwin: Falcon Heavy's first commercial launch to pave the way for reusable rockets in national security missions. In: Spacenews. March 25, 2019, accessed April 25, 2019 . 
35. ↑ Twitter message from Elon Musk, March 29, 2019.

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