“New Glenn is created to launch commercial satellites and to fly humans into space”, he continued.
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Blue Origin also have plans to sell the BE-4 to United Launch Alliance for its new Vulcan rocket.
Amazon.com billionaire Jeff Bezos announced this week that his Blue Origin company is going to build the biggest rocket on Earth and call it the “New Glenn”, continuing his tradition of naming spacecraft after legendary NASA astronauts.
The New Glenn will come in two versions, one nearly as large as the historic Saturn V. The three-stage New Glenn is 313 feet tall, while the two-stage version is 270 feet tall. Experts have also said methane is clean, meaning it is less likely to clog fuel lines and could reduce the amount of rigorous cleaning needed to clear particulates and make it easier to reuse rockets. Its second stage will be powered by a single BE-4 engine.
The privately-developed rocket could launch a range of commercial satellites and military payloads once certified by the U.S. Defense Department.
As reported by Jeff Bezos, the “New Glenn” missile is designed in two configuration variants – Two-stage and three-stage and blast off from Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The proposed New Glenn rocket – named after John Glenn, the first American to go into orbit around the earth – will come in 2- and 3-stage versions, the latter more than 300 feet tall.
Is there an apparent match that would likely occur between the Blue Origin and SpaceX?
In the release, there was no word whether the rocket would be built at the new Blue Origin rocket factory now under construction outside Titusville, in Space Florida’s Exploration Park.
Bezos and the company are not commenting beyond the news release, a spokesman indicated.
New Shepard is named after Alan Shepard, who became the first American in space during a suborbital flight in May 1961. This engine is now under development by Blue Origin, scheduled for first flight in 2019 and powered by liquified natural gas and liquid oxygen.
With two upper stages, the rocket will be able to transport any payload beyond low-Earth orbit into orbital space.
The private spaceflight company Blue Origin plans to launch a crucial abort test of its New Shepard suborbital vehicle next month, and you can get a sneak peek at the action in a new video animation.
Blue Origin past year canceled the claims disputed by SpaceX, which achieved its first rocket landing at sea in April.
The single-stage New Shepard is already flying with the BE-3 engine, and the rocket has completed five test flights – the last four with the same reusable vehicle.
That identical booster will take to the air again for the abort test – but it probably won’t survive the ordeal, Bezos said.
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The safety demo is a key test before Blue Origin adds test pilots to future New Shepard launches.
