Imminent launch for the new Blue Origin rocket capsule

Sam Ibou October 7, 2024 2 min read

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Everything accelerates in the second half of 2024 for Blue Origin. The Amazon rocket launches its brand new capsule this Monday, responsible for carrying astronauts into space. In November, it will be the turn of the New Glenn launcher to make its first test flight.

New Shepard changes this Monday. The ship of Blue Originequipped with the Booster 5 and the RSS Karman Line capsule, is renewed in a second generation supposed to have improved performance and reuse capacity. Its first launch is scheduled for today from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in Texas, with a firing window starting at 3 p.m. in France.

A new New Shepard takes off this Monday

SpaceX’s competing company will carry a payload made up of two LiDARs in this test flight, which it will later use in its missions to the Moon with NASA. There will also be ultra-wideband proximity operations sensors, a reproduction of the monoliths of 2001: A Space Odyssey and student postcards sent to the Club for the Future association. In future missions, it will indeed be astronauts who board.

Since May, only one mission with New Shepard has taken place, last August. Blue Origin currently uses the ship to send wealthy clients to the edge of space, at an altitude of 100 kilometers. The 26th mission therefore took place at the end of Augustwith a total of 6 people on board. Launches could become more frequent as the company aims to deliver one booster per week until the end of the year.

New Glenn rocket launched in November

The schedule for this second part of 2024 is busy as the New Glenn launcher prepares for its first test flight. This is scheduled for next November. It plans to be able to propel a payload of 45,000 kg into low Earth orbit, almost double what SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket can currently carry. During this first mission, Blue Origin will attempt to land its thruster. booster.

In the future, the rocket will also be able to reach higher altitudes and place satellites in geostationary orbit (like the Falcon 9). For its part, it will be able to carry 13 tonnes of payload, compared to 8.3 tonnes for its competitor SpaceX. As the leader of NASA’s Artemis program, New Glenn will also become the ship responsible for sending humans back to the Moon, since the Kennedy Space Centerat Cape Canaveral in Florida.