Blue Origin is preparing to launch its NS-27 mission with the RSS Kármán Line, its new crew capsule, on Monday at 9AM ET. It will be the first launch for the capsule, which the company says in its announcement will have improved performance and reusability, along with “an updated livery, and accommodations for payloads on the booster.”
6.10.2024
Blue Origin to debut 2nd human-rated New Shepard rocket on Oct. 7 launch (photo)
The launch window for Blue Origin's uncrewed NS-27 suborbital mission opens at 9 a.m. ET on Monday (Oct. 7).
Blue Origin's second human-rated New Shepard booster. (Image credit: Blue Origin)
Blue Origin will debut a new spacecraft on Monday (Oct. 7), if all goes according to plan.
Jeff Bezos' aerospace company plans to launch its uncrewed NS-27 mission Monday morning, sending its New Shepard rocket-capsule combo on a brief trip to suborbital space. It will be the first mission for this particular vehicle, according to Blue Origin.
NS-27 will launch from the company's West Texas site during a window that opens at 9:00 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT; 8:00 a.m. local Texas time). You can watch the action live via Blue Origin and here at Space.com, if, as expected, the company makes its feed available. Coverage will begin at 8:45 a.m. EDT (1245 GMT).
NS-27 will mark the debut of the second human-rated New Shepard vehicle, which consists of a first stage known as Booster 5 and a crew capsule named RSS Kármán Line. (The Kármán line is the 62-mile-high boundary that many people regard as the start of outer space.)
"The vehicle features technology upgrades to improve the vehicle's performance and reusability, an updated livery and accommodations for payloads on the booster," Blue Origin wrote in a statement today (Oct. 4).
No people will go up on NS-27, but the mission will fly 12 research payloads, five of them on the booster and seven inside the capsule. This gear includes new navigation systems developed for New Shepard and Blue Origin's huge New Glenn rocket, as well as two LIDAR (light detection and ranging) sensors designed to operate in the lunar environment, according to Blue Origin.
As its name suggests, NS-27 will be the 27th New Shepard mission overall. Eight of the vehicle's 26 flights to date have been crewed, sending up to six people at a time on brief trips to the final frontier.
Those eight crewed flights have all used the same New Shepard vehicle — the Booster 4/RSS First Step combo. This second human-rated spacecraft will enable "expanded flight capacity to better meet growing customer demand," the company wrote in today's statement.
Quelle: SC
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Update: 7.10.2024
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Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin plans to launch a new crew capsule on Monday
Blue Origin’s RSS Kármán Line will fly for the first time as the company works toward mounting a real challenge to SpaceX.
The flight will carry two LIDAR sensors into space that will be used for Blue Origin’s Lunar Permanence program to develop Moon landers. Those are among 12 payloads that also include ultra-wideband proximity operations sensors, a reproduction of the black monoliths from 2001: A Space Odyssey, and student postcards submitted to its Club for the Future nonprofit. Blue Origin will stream the launch on its website, starting 15 minutes before liftoff.
If Monday’s launch takes place as planned, it will be the second New Shepard flight since May, when the company carried out its first crewed launch since 2022. Blue Origin completed another New Shepard mission in August.
NS-27’s next flight comes as Blue Origin works toward the goal of becoming a real SpaceX competitor. Company CEO Dave Limp, the former Amazon hardware boss who took over late last year, said the company needs to “be able to build things a lot” to become “a world class manufacturer” in an interview with CNBC.
“We’d like to [be delivering] about an engine a week by the end of the year. I’m not sure we’ll get exactly to a week, but it’ll be sub-10 days … [and] by the end of 2025, we have to be faster than that,” Limp said.
Blue Origin plans to launch New Glenn, its big reusable booster that recently completed its first second-stage hot fire test, for the first time in November. Blue Origin says the rocket can deliver 45,000 kilograms (more than 99,000 pounds) into low Earth orbit, which CNBC notes is roughly double what SpaceX’s Falcon 9 can do. The company also hopes to land the booster on its first flight.
Quelle: The Verge
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New Shepard NS-27: Mission Updates
NS-27 is “Go” for Launch
We're "Go" to proceed to launch tomorrow, October 7. The NS-27 launch window opens at 8:00 AM CDT / 13:00 UTC from Launch Site One with live coverage beginning at 7:45 AM CDT on BlueOrigin.com.
Blue Origin Debuts Second Human-Rated New Shepard Rocket To Meet Demand
Blue Origin’s next New Shepard flight, NS-27, will debut our second human-rated vehicle, enabling expanded flight capacity to better meet growing customer demand. The launch window for the uncrewed verification flight opens on Monday, October 7, at 8:00 AM CDT / 1300 UTC. The webcast will begin 15 minutes before liftoff on BlueOrigin.com.
The new crew capsule is named RSS Kármán Line. The vehicle features technology upgrades to improve the vehicle’s performance and reusability, an updated livery, and accommodations for payloads on the booster. New Shepard remains one of the most sustainable rockets ever to fly to space. Nearly 99% of New Shepard’s dry mass is reused, including the booster, capsule, engine, landing gear, and parachutes.
NS-27 will fly 12 payloads—five on the booster and seven inside the crew capsule. Payloads include new navigation systems developed for New Shepard and New Glenn; two different LIDAR sensors for the Lunar Permanence program; ultra-wideband proximity operations sensors flying as part of a NASA TechFlights grant with Blue Origin’s Space Systems Development group; and a commercial payload that is a reproduction of black monoliths from 2001: A Space Odyssey. The monoliths are flying on behalf of Spacemanic for a special edition printed by Croatian publisher Amaranthine Books.
The mission will also carry tens of thousands of student-designed postcards on behalf of Club for the Future, Blue Origin’s STEAM-focused nonprofit whose mission is to inspire and mobilize future generations to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math. The organization has engaged more than 43 million students globally since its founding in 2019. Students can submit digital postcards here.
Quelle: Blue Origin
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Update:
Quelle: Blue Origin
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New Shepard NS-27: Mission Updates
12:14 PM CDT
We’re standing down on today’s launch attempt to troubleshoot a vehicle issue that would’ve taken us beyond our launch window. New launch target forthcoming.
Quelle: Blue Origin
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