New Glenn’s maiden flight approaches as hardware undergoes testing

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With flight hardware being tested, recovery rehearsals underway, and production facilities growing, Blue Origin is becoming a hive of more visible activity as the company rapidly approaches the first flight of its orbital class rocket, New Glenn.

New Glenn Testing

Over the past few months, Blue Origin has performed many important tests of New Glenn hardware at Launch Complex 36 (LC-36). These are all important for gathering data before the rocket’s first flight.

In early July, retraction tests of the New Glenn transporter erector (TE) system were performed at LC-36. These tests involved the large TE pulling back from the vehicle and disconnecting umbilicals from the first and second stages. Blue completed these tests over just a few days before lowering the TE and the simulator stages back to horizontal and rolling them back inside the hangar.

While the TE retraction tests were underway at LC-36, a New Glenn First Stage (GS-1) Aft Module was spotted at the GS-1 test area, which sits about 150 meters east of the launch pad. Blue later confirmed that the Aft Module was undergoing testing, specifically showing off the deployment of the six landing legs that are housed within the module. The company’s CEO Dave Limp confirmed the Aft Module is flight hardware. This test shows off the company’s ambition to attempt a landing of New Glenn’s first stage on its maiden flight.

Following NSF observing a GS-1 Forward Module moving toward LC-36 on July 25, Dave Limp posted X that the module had completed validation tests on the module that included firing the Reaction Control System, vital for controlling the booster in zero-g and during descent, as well as testing the four large fins which help steer the booster. Both of these systems are very important in allowing New Glenn’s first stage to become reusable.

On Aug. 8, a New Glenn second stage was spotted outside of Blue Origin’s factory at Exploration Park, as well as in transit to LC-36. Dave Limp confirmed on X that the stage was hardware for the rocket’s first flight. It is expected that the second stage will undergo testing at the launch pad before being integrated with its first stage, which is also expected to be transported to LC-36 in the near future.

Recovery Preparations

With Blue Origin expected to attempt a landing of New Glenn’s first stage on the very first flight there is a lot more testing to be done than just with the rocket. As seen with SpaceX’s recovery operations, there are a lot of moving parts when it comes to recovering an orbital-class rocket at sea.

The New Glenn first stage simulator vertical in Port Canaveral for the first time. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF)

In early August, Blue transported the GS-1 simulator from LC-36 to Port Canaveral for the first time. Upon arriving at the port, the simulator sage parked up against the breakover fixture (BOF) which will be used to shift recovered boosters between vertical and horizontal. The next day, the company’s large port crane connected a remotely operated lift tool (ROLT) to the top of the booster to assist in the lift. 

On Aug. 8, the large crane and BOF worked together to lift the 58-meter-tall simulator booster from a horizontal position on its transporter to a vertical position. Following this lift, Dave Limp posted on X and hinted that future tests will involve a full recovery rehearsal with the company’s landing vessel, known as Landing Platform Vessel 1 (LPV-1).

Following the news of LPV-1 being sighted in France in late May, the vessel underwent final construction before beginning its transatlantic voyage to Port Canaveral on Aug. 8. Sporting Blue’s signature feather logo on the deck, LPV-1 is expected to arrive at the space coast in late August.

The FCC documents submitted by Blue Origin suggest that the company aims to test LPV-1’s antenna systems off the coast of Cape Canaveral by using a helicopter to simulate an incoming booster. Scheduled for early to mid-September, this will be yet another key test to prove out the systems that will allow New Glenn to hit its stride.

Contracts & Studies

The maiden launch of New Glenn will not only be a test flight for the rocket, but it will also be carrying NASA’s ESCAPADE mission to Mars. Awarded to Blue Origin in February 2023, ESCAPADE is a Class D mission where twin spacecraft will study solar wind energy transfer through Mar’s magnetosphere. The spacecraft built by Rocket Lab is expected to arrive at the Space Coast soon, with the launch currently planned for no earlier than late September.

In mid-June, Blue Origin, along with SpaceX and United Launch Alliance (ULA), was awarded the opportunity to compete for at least 30 National Security Space Launch Lane 1 missions which could be worth $5.6 billion. Blue Origin will receive $5 million in this contract to assess and understand how it will approach tiered mission assurance. This is $3.5 million more than SpaceX and ULA will receive due to Blue Origin being a new provider to the program. The program marks the first time Blue Origin has been selected to launch national security satellites, an important step in adding extra competition to the market.

Also in June, Blue Origin was one of several companies selected to receive up to $1.5 million for a 90-day study to examine a faster and more affordable method of returning samples from the surface of Mars. The company’s proposal seems to include the usage of hardware related to the Artemis program, likely related to the Blue Moon lander.

Engines

Blue Origin continues to ramp up testing its BE-4 and BE-3U engines at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, conveniently located just 12 kilometers from the company’s rocket engine factory. Not only do the tests of these engines help Blue gain significant data before New Glenn’s first flight, but also for delivering engines to customers and competitor ULA. Tory Bruno, CEO of ULA, continues to provide updates as Blue delivers BE-4 engines for use on the first stage of the Vulcan rocket. At this rate, Blue should have no problem supporting engine demand for both New Glenn and Vulcan.

A BE-4 engine on Test Stand 4670 at NASA Marshall. (Credit: Blue Origin)

In mid-June, Blue Origin also shared an image of its BE-7 engine that will power the Blue Moon lunar landers. The engine shown was heading into vacuum cell testing at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Edwards Air Force Base to simulate a space-like environment.

Facilities

With an already impressive footprint across the Space Coast, Blue Origin continues to grow its facilities to support its ambitions. Most notable is the construction of Lunar Plant 1. The building, currently in its early stages of construction, is located on the south half of the company’s Exploration Park campus and is to support the Blue Moon program.

Even more buildings are expected to go up on the south side of the campus, including buildings for stage and payload fairing storage. Land has recently been cleared to support the 22,300 square meter payload fairing storage building.

An overview of the southern side of Blue Origin’s Exploration Park Campus. (Credit: Max Evans for NSF)

In July, plans submitted by Blue Origin along with environmental documents revealed that the company plans to replace Hangar O, located just across the road from LC-36’s south entrance, with a new slightly larger hangar. The existing 780 square meter structure will be replaced by an 850 square meter hangar and the addition of a dry retention pond. It’s not yet understood what the facility’s purpose will be but with historic buildings in poor shape, this is a welcome surprise.(Lead Image: The New Glenn Simulator rotating into a vertical position for recovery testing. Credit: Max Evans for NSF)

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