Updates Blue Origin New Shepard News and Updates

[Andy44]

It's good PR but the two companies are not doing similar missions so it's not a fair comparison.

But the fact that both of them are now landing boosters vertically bodes well for the future.

 

[Urwumpe]

It's good PR but the two companies are not doing similar missions so it's not a fair comparison.

But the fact that both of them are now landing boosters vertically bodes well for the future.

Well, they are both aiming at the same goal, but from different directions. One launches already to space and tries to land as much of the rocket as possible, the other lands the rocket already and tries to get further into space.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Ouch!! that's going to hurt bad !! :lol:
I think I might like the BO's way of doing things.. slowish and pragmatic. On idea at a time.. getting the job done without too much fanfare !!

Imagine all the adrenalin junkies lined up at the launch pad. Here comes your new funfair.. occasional hole in the ground..let me on..mann!!
How many junkies are planned per capsule ?
:lol:

I think they're aiming for six...

 

[Sky Captain]

I'm curious how Blue Origin will land their orbital rocket currently in development. BE4 engine is too big to use Falcon 9 approach with 9 engines running at launch, but only one throttled back as much as possible at landing. New Shepard has much higher structural mass fraction than orbital rocket will have so it can get away with one engine for launch and landing. First stage of an orbital rocket will be 10 - 15 times lighter when coming to land. It is not known how large Blue Origin's orbital rocket will be, but most likely it will have 2 or 3 engines. Is it possible to build engine that can throttle to something like 10 % of full thrust? Or Blue Origin will have to use even more aggressive hoverslam approach than Falcon 9 already use?

 

[Notebook]

Just curious, and slightly off-topic, do any off the return to launch site(or near) projects have an abort to launch site planned?

N.

 

[Thunder Chicken]

I'm curious how Blue Origin will land their orbital rocket currently in development. BE4 engine is too big to use Falcon 9 approach with 9 engines running at launch, but only one throttled back as much as possible at landing.

The BE4 is too big, assuming the rocket will be the same size.

If the rocket is bigger, it will take more fuel to return it, so overall you have more mass and will need to push it around with more thrust. It's not linear scaling - the rocket doesn't necessarily have to be 3 times bigger (approximate thrust difference between the BE4 and Merlin). You have the Tsiolkovsky Equation with natural logs floating around.

The use of the BE4 for a reusable stage suggests it will be bigger than the Falcon 9. Should be able to back out how much bigger assuming the engines can't be throttled any lower than the Merlin; I'll have to take a look at the math more carefully.

EDIT: Actually, I think it is linear. Bah, I don't feel like doing math tonight. But maybe BO is shooting for heavy lift?

 

[MaverickSawyer]

If he wants to send people offworld en masse, then yeah, he's aiming for heavylift.
And mass increases in a cubic manner for linear increases in dimensions.

 

[RGClark]

I had earlier estimated the New Shepard could form an orbital rocket using three cores:

Triple Cored New Shepard as an orbital vehicle.
http://exoscientist.blogspot.com/2016/01/triple-cored-new-shepard-as-orbital.html

But Jonathan Goff on Selenianboondocks.com raised the possibility that a single New Shepard could serve as a first stage booster for an orbital rocket. This would cut costs since it would be reusable as is the F9 first stage.

I estimate New Shepard could indeed be a booster to orbit using a hydrolox upper stage half-size to the Centaur, resulting in a 1 to 2 metric ton payload. Such an upper stage already exists in the Ariane H10-3:

New Shepard as a booster for an orbital launcher.
http://exoscientist.blogspot.com/2016/01/triple-cored-new-shepard-as-orbital.html

Using one of the larger Star solid rocket upper stages, New Shepard probably could send a few hundred kilos to LEO as a booster. This would be a faster, cheaper implementation for getting an orbital rocket from the New Shepard though due to the small payload it would have a small market. Still with reusability of the booster lowering costs, it's possible it could have a market for nanosats.

Plus, it might beat SpaceX again, this time reusing a booster for an orbital launch.

Bob Clark

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Not likely. New Shepard is designed for straight up, straight down missions. There isn't enough margin for any cross range ability.
Besides, they're not in a race with SpaceX, and they've got a big brother to New Shepard under development. Any mission that would be able to be lofted by the hypothetical new shepard-derived launcher would be a perfect fit aboard the bigger rocket as a secondary or tertiary payload.

 

[Donamy]

A comparison with STS.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Jeff Bezos lifts curtain on Blue Origin rocket factory, lays out grand plan for space travel that spans hundreds of years

KENT, Wash. – For the first time, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos guided a pack of journalists around his Blue Origin rocket factory today and showed off hardware that could send people on suborbital rides to outer space as early as next year.

The (still being manufactured) nozzle of the first BE-4 engine

New Shepard assembly hall

BE-3 engine undergoing final assembly

 

[Col_Klonk]

Jeff Bezos lifts curtain on Blue Origin rocket factory, lays out grand plan for space travel that spans hundreds of years

A vague but more simplified idea on space exploration, compared to nuking mars for one's benefit.
I'm a bit skeptical about 2017 though.. maybe 2020/22

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Yes! There are now rocket factories (plural) in the U.S! Start cranking out them sausages rockets!

I think they'll manage to pull off a manned suborbital hop by the end of 2017.

 

[RGClark]

Jeff Bezos lifts curtain on Blue Origin rocket factory, lays out grand plan for space travel that spans hundreds of years

The (still being manufactured) nozzle of the first BE-4 engine

New Shepard assembly hall

BE-3 engine undergoing final assembly

That image of the engine reminds of the Merlin with the side exhaust nozzle.

Bob Clark

 

[MaverickSawyer]

That image of the engine reminds of the Merlin with the side exhaust nozzle.

Bob Clark

From what I can tell, that's the turbopump exhaust. Unlike most engines, though, it's a tap-off cycle, which bleeds some of the combustion chamber gases to the turbines. Quite an interesting choice for use with a LOX/LH2 engine.

 

[Urwumpe]

From what I can tell, that's the turbopump exhaust. Unlike most engines, though, it's a tap-off cycle, which bleeds some of the combustion chamber gases to the turbines. Quite an interesting choice for use with a LOX/LH2 engine.

Yes, and also unlike most modern engines, the powerhead of the engine is fixed, while only the chamber and nozzle gimbal for TVC.

Still, I am surprised how long the rocket engine is from thrust frame to nozzle, it really seems to attach directly to the tank.

 

[MaverickSawyer]

Flight tomorrow morning!

Looks like they're running a pair of science experiments this time, too...

 

[Frilock]

Flight tomorrow morning!

Looks like they're running a pair of science experiments this time, too...

Looks like they're trying to unlock the next node.

 

[GLS]

Looks like they're trying to unlock the next node.

That they did!

Jeff Bezos ‏@JeffBezos 1h1 hour ago
Flawless BE-3 restart and perfect booster landing. CC chutes deployed. @BlueOrigin

Jeff Bezos ‏@JeffBezos 1h1 hour ago
CC touchdown confirmed. #LaunchLandRepeat @BlueOrigin

Jeff Bezos ‏@JeffBezos 1h1 hour ago
We’ll share mission video including aerial as soon as we’re able to get it processed.#GradatimFerociter @BlueOrigin

 

[Donamy]

Could someone tweet him, and ask how the first stage, is brought back to the assembly building after landing ?