![]() ![]() In fact, the craft has already helped to place NASA and NOAA’s DSCOVR satellite at the first Lagrangian point, a deep-space location far beyond the moon.ĭespite being in the same race, the two companies are ultimately in very different businesses. (The pod returned to Earth via parachute.) Musk’s Falcon 9, on the other hand, seeks to place satellites and humans into low-Earth orbit and beyond. Instead it merely departed the atmosphere and deposited its uncrewed pod at the edge of space for four minutes. Musk is drawing an important distinction. Getting to space needs ~Mach 3, but GTO orbit requires ~Mach 30. ![]() But Falcon 9 rockets failed to complete vertical landings in February and April of this year, and one exploded shortly after launch in June.Īfter Blue Shepard’s announcement, Musk congratulated Bezos on Twitter: Unlike Blue Shepard, which lands upright on land, Space X’s Falcon 9 rocket is meant to rendezvous with a “drone barge” in the middle of the ocean. But Blue Shepard and vehicles like it return to Earth vertically, in the same orientation as how they launched, a task known in the industry as “VTOL” or “vertical take-off and landing.”īlue Shepard’s flight ends a de facto private space-race between two companies founded by victors of the ‘90s tech boom: Bezos’s Blue Origin and Space X, the aerospace firm owned by Elon Musk. Even the Space Shuttle, which returned to the ground intact and on its own power, required semi-disposable rockets to get it to flight: Its solid rocket boosters fell off during take-off and required months of refurbishment to be usable again. At the moment, the first launch of the new rocket is scheduled for 2023.Previously, rockets that propelled payloads to space were destroyed or lost in the process. Initially, the operation of New Glenn was supposed to begin in 2020, but these deadlines were repeatedly shifted. The first stage of the rocket will be reusable, in the future Blue Origin also expects to create a reusable version of the second stage. According to the company, it will be able to take up to 45 tons of cargo to low orbits (LEO) and up to 14 tons to geotransfer. The New Glenn rocket is Blue Origin’s own development. According to some reports, Blue Origin has already turned to the same company that at one time carried out a similar order for SpaceX. It is also reported that instead of using large ships, Blue Origin decided to use small autonomous barges like those used by SpaceX to land the steps. Ironically, the port is located near the Boca Chica test site, which is SpaceX’s main test center. According to the American press, which has gained access to the documents of the shipyard, Jacklyn will be disposed of there. It is also reported that the ship left the home port and headed to the port of Brownsville. Recently, representatives of the company admitted that they are considering other options for using the ship. However, apart from minor preparatory work, Blue Origin has not started the modernization of the vessel. At the same time, it was reported that the ship’s conversion would be completed in a year. In December 2020, Blue Origin owner Jay Bezos even held a special ceremony, renaming the ship Jacklyn in honor of his mother. It was announced that it would undergo modernization at the Pensacola shipyards, after which it would be used to land the first stages of the Blue Origin rocket. In 2018, Blue Origin bought the cargo ship Stena Freighter from the European ferry operator Stena Line. Judging by the available documents, it will be disposed of and dismantled for scrap there. The ship has already departed from the port of Pensacola (Florida), where it spent the last few years, to the port of Brownsville (Texas). Blue Origin has abandoned its intention to use the Jacklyn vessel to land the first stages of the New Glenn rocket. ![]()
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