The reports have been coming in since the start of this year that this will be the year that Blue Origin's New Glenn Launches. We now have a date.
In a presentation at a meeting of a planetary protection committee of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) in London April 24, Nick Benardini, NASA’s planetary protection officer, listed a Sept. 29 date for the launch of Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) mission, a pair of smallsats that will go into orbit around Mars to measure the interaction of the planet’s magnetosphere with the solar wind.
NASA selected Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket to launch ESCAPADE, awarding the company a $20 million task order through the agency’s Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare contract in February 2023 for the mission. The award at the time mentioned only a late 2024 launch, with the expectation that ESCAPADE would be on one of the first, if not the first, flight of the rocket.
To say this is a much anticipated and ballyhooed launch is a bit of an
understatement. I've lost count of the real estimate for how far behind
schedule this is, but I have a pretty good idea they were late when I first
started blogging on space stories. (A quick search found a 2017 post saying New Glenn might launch by 2020)
That said, I should point out that the estimate isn't from Blue themselves, but from NASA.
Among the pacing items for this mission are seven BE-4 engines, which will power New Glenn's first stage. A handful of sources inside Blue Origin believe the company is making credible progress toward a launch attempt this year.
You'll recall that Blue Origin rolled out a "Pathfinder" vehicle out to SLC-36
on Cape Canaveral SFS for testing
back in February.
“Everything on the pad is real New Glenn hardware,” the company said in a Feb. 21 statement about the pathfinder vehicle. That vehicle, though, lacked BE-4 engines in its first stage, and some components of the pathfinder were not flight hardware.
The New Glenn Pathfinder, photographed in February. Image credit: Blue Origin
What do you think? I don't think I'd schedule a big trip to see it, but it's worth keeping an eye on the status. If those seven BE-4 engines run into trouble, New Glenn's not going anywhere, so especially look for news on that.
It's BO. Don't trust them. Still would be nice if the turd would actually fly, but I'm not holding my breath. Don't expect it to make orbit before something goes wrong.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, don't trust them. Not at all. Still somewhat flabbergasted that the BE4s on Vulcan actually worked.
I also was flabbergasted that they worked. There are seven on this, so the probability of failure has gone way up. Has BO done any multiple-engine ground tests to see if they play well together? I haven't heard of any.
ReplyDeleteSpaceX did that by just flying them, but they expected issues. With BO's oldspace philosophy they may just have some surprises. I certainly wouldn't choose to launch ESCAPADE on this first flight.
Something about large rocket engines. Those BE4's look impressive, big like the large Saturn engines where.
ReplyDeleteIt is notable BO has resorted to copy catting SpaceX. It is seems apparent from everything considered how SpaceX is manufacturing a good cost effective rapid iteration booster design using rolled ring 304 SST section style construction is a hard engineering/manufacturing style to beat.
Notable also BO has so far incorporated full re-usability into their rocket.
Got a sneaking suspicion it is a tricky business developing the kind of internal culture to go wide open throttle employing total iteration build out like SpaceX has done and made it not just successful but truly economical and with such amazing built in reliability. Plus at the rate of development, just nothing like it so far.
If i had to say so, BO is in part effected by some legacy big corporate aerospace mentality which in the long run looks to me if i had to guess will hold them back without generous subsidization of tax dollars. And that right there is the trick. Lind of a trap/corporate/crony culture once set in really difficult to get out of and become economic/non artificial income sourcing.
Yeah SpaceX certainly has enjoyed ol uncle sam's handouts, but it seems they have been careful in avoiding it being a hidden hand which ultimately drives core thinking and company hierarchy culture, if you catch my drift.
Then again making space access and other things such as viable space manufacturing or off earth resource gathering, for now, to make it work, really get out there create a more or less self sustaining enterprise and venture, the initial costs are so high, till things really get cranking up there, and profitability or other positive gainful results are realized, that tax dollar subsidy is a very critical aspect of success.
All things considered in no uncertain terms i believe it is best our tax dolkars go to things like this rather than say almost trillion bucks has been laundered thru that farce if criminal nazi's and their criminal partners in the deep state to support a coup in 404 or supporting the various genocides around the globe.
Any day.
Ah, glasshoppah, but will BO have the manufacturing moxie to crank out engines like SpaceX does? One must wonder.......
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