Category Archives: Blue Origin

Friday / 5 Jan 2024

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ULA Set for Inaugural Flight of Vulcan Centaur as 3 Companies Negotiate Purchase of Venerable Launch Provider

Certification-1 launch is ‘Go’ for 8 Jan at 2:18 EST following positive Launch Readiness Review; Vulcan Centaur V-001 fully stacked at Cape Canaveral Vertical Integration Facility with 61.6-m VC2S configuration (2 SRBs / standard payload fairing) carrying Astrobotic Peregrine lunar lander (itself holding 20 NASA and commercial payloads); ULA is reportedly courting sale, with private equity group Cerberus, Beechcraft / Cessna owner Textron, and most prominently Blue Origin among potential buyers; Vulcan Centaur first stage is powered by twin BE-4 methalox engines built near ULA facility in Huntsville AL, synergies which could help a combined ULA-Blue Origin challenge SpaceX launch industry dominance with ~$118M / launch price point

Credits: ULA, Astrobotic

Tuesday / 31 Oct 2023

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Blue Origin Advances Blue Moon Line of Lunar Landers for Commercial and Artemis Missions

Pathfinder Mission MK1-SN001 to demonstrate 16-m tall Blue Moon Mark 1 (MK1) technology including 100-m accurate lidar-based landing system, BE-7 engines, cryogenics, and lunar comms ahead of first commercial mission MK1-SN002 offering 3 tons of payload capacity to customers; Demo missions slated for 2024 & 2025 per successful Blue Origin bid for second US$3.4B HLS contract awarded 19 May; Blue Moon Mark 2 (MK2) to carry 4 astronauts to lunar surface near MSP during Artemis 5 NET Sep 2029

Pictured: Blue Origin Founder Jeff Bezos, NASA Director Bill Nelson; Credits: NASA, GSFC, Arizona State University, Blue Origin

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 27-30 Oct 2023

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NASA Monitoring SpaceX and Blue Origin Progress on Human Landing Systems for Artemis 3-5

HLS Program Manager Lisa Watson-Morgan tells Spaceflight Now NASA is concerned about SpaceX schedule, expects 15-17 launches of Starship Moon lander variant prior to return of humans to the lunar surface during Artemis 3 NET Dec 2025 & Artemis 4 NET Sep 2028; Starship 26 currently fully stacked with Super Heavy booster 9 at Starbase TX awaiting resolution of <135-day U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service consultation with FAA for orbital test launch clearance; Blue Moon Mark 2 HLS contracted for Artemis 5 being developed by Blue Moon, Lockheed, et al with cargo version demonstration model at Huntsville facility toured by NASA officials during recent Von Braun Symposium

Credits: Blue Origin, NASA, SpaceX

Weekend Edition
Fri-Tues / 26-30 May 2023

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Blue Origin Team to Land Precursor Missions NET 2024 / 2025 Ahead of Uncrewed HLS Demo & Artemis 5

Under Sustaining Lunar Development $3.4B contract, ‘National Team’ composed of Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin, Draper, Boeing, Astrobotic and Honeybee Robotics to land uncrewed mission demonstrating life support and NRHO ascent capability followed by Artemis 5, in which 2 crew-members are to be ferried by Blue Moon lander from Gateway station to surface, aided by Cislunar Transporter LH2/LOX fuel depot NET 2029; Prior to contracted landings, 2 self-funded landings are take place NET 2024 / 2025 as part of technology maturation process; Blue Origin reportedly investing ≥ NASA’s $3.4B award in HLS

Credits: Blue Origin

Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 19-22 May 2023

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7 National and Independent / Commercial Lunar Landers Expected to Launch Within 1 Year

ISRO and Roscosmos targeting similar launch dates (NET 2nd week in July / 13 July respectively) and landing locations in Moon South Pole region (N / NE of Boguslavsky crater ~118km apart), for Chandrayaan-3 and Luna-25 landing missions, however Soyuz 2.1b will carry Luna-25 to direct TLI over a few days, whereas CY-3 will perform a series of Oberth raising maneuvers following LVM3 launch, resulting in ~1 month trip to orbital insertion; Astrobotic Peregrine, IM Nova-C, and JAXA SLIM striving for NET Q3 launch, IM-2 early 2024, Chang’E-6 NET May 2024

Credits: JAXA Lunar and Mars Exploration Logo Contest / Twitter @jsec_jaxa_jp

Friday / 4 Nov 2022

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Astrobotic PM1 Advances with Precision Landing Validation as BE-4 Engines Being Integrated on Vulcan Centaur

100-km test flight of Optical Precision Autonomous Landing system aboard King Air B200 twin turboprop confirms functionality 9 km above mountainous northern region of Mojave Desert analogous to lunar surface while providing Astrobotic with data to be utilized for US$79.5M Peregrine Mission 1 to Lacus Mortis (NET Q1 2023) and $320.4M Griffin Mission One to Nobile Crater (NET Nov 2024); Meanwhile Blue Origin working with ULA to complete Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle with BE-4 LNG / LOX (“methalox”) engines at Decatur, Alabama ULA facility

Credits: Astrobotic, ULA

Friday / 15 October 2021

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Commercial Space Travelers Describe Transformative Overview Effect from LEO, Next Step is Lunar Orbit

First commercial orbital mission ‘Inspiration4’ on SpaceX Dragon capsule, sending humans furthest from Earth in 21st century, reaching 585km; Inspiration4 Commander Jared Isaacman reflects on “single most impactful moment” being Moonrise, urges space travelers push “little bit more and get out there [Moon]”; William Shatner, famous for Star Trek Captain Kirk portrayal, insists “everybody in the world needs to do this” after Blue Origin flight; Yusaku Maezawa and assistant Yozo Hirano launching to ISS 8 Dec via Soyuz; Maezawa organizing lunar orbit on Starship with 10-12 member crew NET 2023

Credits: Inspiration4, #dearMoon

Friday / 1 October 2021

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NASA warns lawsuit over Human Landing System award threatens to derail human Moon landings

Agency Report issued in response to HLS protest, newly released to The Verge via FOIA request, show NASA warns cancellation of the Artemis program may result from litigious proceedings, stating “once-in-a-generation momentum” risks “goal of returning the United States to the Moon”; US$146M NextSTEP N award to be shared by Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin Northrop Grumman, SpaceX and Dynetics to support human missions after Artemis 3; Lunar Exploration Transportation Services contracts or self-financing are routes forward for lunar lander companies wishing to participate on Artemis team

Credits: NASA

Wednesday / 21 July 2021

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Blue Origin Strives for “Multi-Generation” Moon South Pole Settlement

With momentum of 107-km New Shepard SpaceDay private human mission over Kármán line with oldest / youngest spaceflight participants Wally Funk (82) and Oliver Daemen (18), Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos may focus on long-term vision including Blue Moon project / New Armstrong heavy lift rocket – while HLS award status to be determined by U.S. GAO by Aug 4, Bezos commands sufficient resources (US$200B+) to self-fund; MSP offers mix of sunlight (power) and shadowed regions (water) for liquid hydrogen fuel (powering BE-7 engines), regolith for O’Neill Cylinder construction

Credits: Blue Origin

Friday / 11 June 2021

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USA Bill May Authorize Second HLS; Russia, China Human-Rated Lunar Craft Progress

~US$10B Authorization For “Dissimilar Redundant” 2024 Human Landing System Award, Widely Speculated To Be In Response To Blue Origin GAO Protest Over Blue Moon Lander (L) Included In Innovation And Competition Act Containing NASA Authorization; Amended By Commerce Committee Chair Senator Maria Cantwell; Meanwhile Roscosmos Prime Contractor RSC Energia Continues Construction On 18 m3 Orel ‘Eagle’ (TR) And CNSA Contractor CASC Plans Next Test Of 13 m3 Next-Generation Crewed Spacecraft (BR) With Missions Slated For Late 2020s

Credits: Blue Origin, RSC Energia, CASC