Launch vehicles Blue Origin

1 launch vehicles

1.1 early, low-altitude flight test platforms

1.1.1 charon
1.1.2 goddard


1.2 new shepard suborbital system
1.3 new glenn orbital launch vehicle

1.3.1 orbital launch vehicle
1.3.2 orbital subsystems , earlier development work


1.4 test flights

launch vehicles
early, low-altitude flight test platforms
charon

blue origin s first flight test vehicle, called charon after pluto s moon, powered 4 vertically mounted rolls-royce viper mk. 301 jet engines rather rockets. low-altitude vehicle developed test autonomous guidance , control technologies, , processes company use develop later rockets. charon made test flight @ moses lake, washington on march 5, 2005. flew altitude of 316 feet (96 m) before returning controlled landing near liftoff point.

charon on display @ museum of flight in seattle, washington.

goddard

the next test vehicle, named goddard (also known pm1), first flew on november 13, 2006. flight successful. test flight december 2 never launched. according federal aviation administration records, 2 further flights performed goddard.

new shepard suborbital system


new shepard launch on april 29, 2015.

blue origin s new shepard suborbital spaceflight system composed of 2 vehicles: crew capsule accommodating 3 or more astronauts launched rocket booster. 2 vehicles lift off , designed separate during flight. after separation, booster designed return earth perform vertical landing while crew capsule follows separate trajectory, returning under parachutes land touchdown. both vehicles intended recovery , re-use. new shepard controlled entirely on-board computers. in addition flying astronauts, new shepard intended provide frequent opportunities researchers fly experiments suborbital space.

new shepard landing parachutes on april 29, 2015.

a federal aviation administration notam indicated flight test of suborbital test vehicle – pm2 – scheduled august 24, 2011. flight in west texas failed when ground personnel lost contact , control of vehicle. blue origin released analysis of failure on september 2. vehicle reached speed of mach 1.2 , 14 km (46,000 ft) altitude, flight instability drove angle of attack triggered [the] range safety system terminate thrust on vehicle.

on october 19, 2012, blue origin conducted successful new shepherd pad escape test @ west texas launch site, firing pusher escape motor , launching full-scale crew capsule launch vehicle simulator. crew capsule traveled altitude of 703 m (2,307 ft) under active thrust vector control before descending safely parachute soft landing 500 m (1,630 ft) downrange.

in april 2015, blue origin announced intent begin autonomous test flights of new shepard in 2015 monthly. blue origin expected series of dozens of flights on extent of test program [taking] couple of years complete.

on april 29, 2015, new shepard made first test flight. uncrewed vehicle flew planned test altitude of more 93.5 km (307,000 ft) , achieved top speed of mach 3. crew capsule separated booster before returning earth landing under parachutes.

on november 23, 2015, new shepard made second test flight, reaching 100.5 km (330,000 ft) altitude successful recovery of both crew capsule , booster. booster performed powered vertical landing.

on january 22, 2016 blue origin re-flew same new shepard booster launched , landed vertically in november 2015, demonstrating reuse. time, new shepard reached apogee of 333,582 feet (101.7 kilometers) before both capsule , booster returned earth recovery , reuse.

new shepard booster , crew capsule after retirement

on april 2, 2016, same new shepard booster flew third time, reaching 339,178 feet (103.8km), before returning successfully.

on june 19, 2016, same new shepard booster again flew, fourth time, again reaching on 330,000 feet, before again returning successfully.

a fifth , final test flight of second booster , test capsule took place in october 2016. blue origin plan fly test astronauts 2018.

new glenn orbital launch vehicle

the new glenn 7.0-metre (23 ft)-diameter two- or three-stage orbital launch vehicle expected launch prior 2020.

the design work on vehicle began in 2012. high-level specifications vehicle publicly announced in september 2016.

the first stage powered 7 be-4 engines, designed , manufactured blue origin. first stage reusable, new shepard suborbital launch vehicle preceded it. second stage, , optional third stage flights, both intended expendable.

orbital launch vehicle

revealed in 2015, blue origin orbital launch vehicle—which began referred placeholder name of big brother in march 2016 —is two-stage-to-orbit liquid-propellant rocket. launcher intended reusable. in january 2016, blue origin announced plan announce details launch vehicle later in 2016, , few details released in march 2016 when blue origin indicated first orbital launch expected, florida launch facility, in 2020.

the first stage powered blue origin s be-4 single-shaft oxygen-rich staged combustion liquid methane/liquid oxygen rocket engine while second stage powered qualified be-3 tap-off cycle liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen rocket engine. number of engines powering each stage has not been released, nor has payload or gross launch weight specifications. no details publicly released of september 2015.

blue origin intends launch rocket historic launch complex 36, , manufacture rockets @ new facility on nearby land in exploration park. acceptance testing of be-4 engines done in florida.

orbital subsystems , earlier development work

blue origin began developing systems orbital human spacecraft prior 2012. reusable first-stage booster projected fly suborbital trajectory, taking off vertically booster stage of conventional multistage rocket. following stage separation, upper stage continue propel astronauts orbit while first-stage booster descend perform powered vertical landing similar new shepard suborbital propulsion module. first-stage booster refueled , launched again, allowing improved reliability , lowering cost of human access space.

the booster rocket projected loft blue origin’s biconic space vehicle orbit, carrying astronauts , supplies. after orbiting earth, space vehicle reenter earth’s atmosphere land on land under parachutes, , reused on future missions earth orbit.

blue origin completed system requirements review (srr) of orbital space vehicle in may 2012.

engine testing reusable booster system (rbs) vehicle began in 2012. full-power test of thrust chamber blue origin be-3 liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen rocket engine conducted @ nasa test facility in october 2012. chamber achieved full thrust of 100,000 pounds-force (about 440 kn).

test flights