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#1 2024-09-02 06:52:21
- tahanson43206
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Blue Origin Unmanned Missions
Louis created three topics about Blue Origin and it's human space flight operations.
This topic is offered for NewMars members who may find news about unmanned flights in which Blue Origin will play a role.
The first (that I am aware of) is planned for October 13, 2024, when an attempt will be made to launch a mission for NASA.
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#2 2024-09-02 06:52:51
- tahanson43206
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Re: Blue Origin Unmanned Missions
This post is reserved for an index to posts that may be contributed by NewMars members over time.
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#3 2024-09-02 06:54:03
- tahanson43206
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Re: Blue Origin Unmanned Missions
I asked Google to show any flights planned for the upcoming Hohmann Transfer window to Mars, and it found this one:
NASA's Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE) mission is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral on October 13, 2024, using a Blue Origin New Glenn-1 launch vehicle. The mission will use two identical spacecraft to study how the solar wind interacts with Mars's magnetosphere and how this interaction causes the planet's atmosphere to escape. The mission will also investigate how solar radiation has stripped away the planet's formerly thick atmosphere over time.
The EscaPADE mission will use a Hohmann Type II transfer orbit and will reach Mars in September 2025. The orbits will be adjusted over about seven months until they reach their nominal science orbits in April 2026.
This appears to be an official NASA web site for the mission:
https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecr … er%20orbit.
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#4 2024-09-04 19:23:40
- tahanson43206
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Re: Blue Origin Unmanned Missions
Here's an update on preparations for the Hohmann Transfer launch in 40 days ...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technolo … d0aa&ei=12
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#5 2024-09-06 19:36:10
- tahanson43206
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Re: Blue Origin Unmanned Missions
NASA has apparently decided to give up on New Glenn for the Hohmann Transfer window in October.
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/maiden-voyag … 41440.html
There are no show stoppers at work.... instead NASA planners are merely cutting their losses caused by normal uncertainty as New Glenn prepares for it's first flight.
The two satellites were about to be fueled with hypergolic fuels, and NASA chose not to take the risk.
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#6 2024-09-07 08:08:17
- SpaceNut
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Re: Blue Origin Unmanned Missions
The old Lockheed Atlas and Delta family of Boeing could have performed this had Nasa not decided that a first real mission of the replacements was required.
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#7 2025-01-13 09:45:31
- tahanson43206
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Re: Blue Origin Unmanned Missions
Launch postponed...
Jeff Bezos' space company calls off debut launch of massive new rocket in final minutes of countdown
Story by MARCIA DUNN
• 7h • 2 min read
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#8 2025-01-14 14:32:46
- GW Johnson
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Re: Blue Origin Unmanned Missions
I saw one news story that said something about ice accumulation on the plumbing. No details at all. And only that one news item, so far.
GW
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"There is nothing as expensive as a dead crew, especially one dead from a bad management decision"
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#9 2025-11-13 17:58:40
- tahanson43206
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Re: Blue Origin Unmanned Missions
Thanks to GW Johnson for alerting us to Blue Origin's successful launch today (2025/11/13)
Here is a Space.com article that contains extended reporting and lots of image/video links
https://www.space.com/space-exploration … h-for-nasa
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#10 2025-11-19 18:08:59
- SpaceNut
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Re: Blue Origin Unmanned Missions
Blue Origin Lands New Glenn Stage at Sea, Escalating SpaceX Rivalry
Could a single rocket landing redefine the balance of power in commercial spaceflight? Blue Origin’s New Glenn has just completed its first operational mission, delivering a payload to low-Earth orbit and returning its first stage to a drone ship matching capability that, until now, belonged exclusively to SpaceX.
The mission carried NASA’s ESCAPADE twin satellites, Blue and Gold, which Rocket Lab built to study how Mars lost its atmosphere. Each spacecraft, roughly the size of a copy machine, will fly in tandem around the Red Planet to capture a stereo view of how the solar wind strips away atmospheric particles. This dual-satellite approach, enabled by miniaturization trends in spacecraft engineering, offers redundancy and higher data resolution while keeping mission costs to a modest $80 million.
New Glenn’s success is rooted in years of engineering development. The rocket stands at 320 feet, nearly a third taller than SpaceX’s Falcon 9, and can lift up to 45 tons to low-Earth orbit almost double Falcon 9’s capacity. Its BE-4 engines, fueled by liquid natural gas and liquid oxygen, power a first stage designed for at least 25 reuses. In returning to the drone ship Jacklyn positioned 375 miles offshore, precise guidance, navigation, and control systems were needed to manage reentry dynamics, aerodynamic loads, and landing leg deployment on a moving platform.
Recovery of drone ships for orbital-class rockets is a complicated choreography: Jacklyn’s station-keeping thrusters hold position against ocean currents, while onboard tracking systems guide the descending booster onto a reinforced landing pad. This capability enables recovery from missions without fuel margin for a return-to-launch-site landing, increasing operational flexibility while lowering per-launch costs.
The destination of the payload adds another layer of technical achievement-the planet Mars. ESCAPADE will follow an innovative trajectory, first traveling to the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point to collect solar data before slingshotting back past Earth for a gravity assist toward Mars. This route reduces propellant mass to about 65% of the spacecraft’s total, compared to the 80-85% typical for direct transfers, and offers more flexible departure windows than the traditional Hohmann transfer.
While this mission demonstrated New Glenn’s orbital delivery and sea-based recovery, the next challenge for Blue Origin will be the Blue Moon Mark 1 lunar lander. The uncrewed Mk.1 will be powered by BE-7 engines burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen and is designed to take cargo to the surface of the Moon on a single New Glenn flight. Already, the company is stacking the aft, mid and forward modules of the Mk.1 in Florida in preparation for thermal vacuum testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Future variants, such as the crewed Mk.2 lander, would need orbital refueling via a Lunar Transporter technology which will require mastery of cryogenic propellant storage and transfer in space.
hat development comes as NASA has reopened its Artemis 3 Human Landing System contract, which awarded a noncompetitive contract to SpaceX over a year ago, due to delays in the Starship program. The over-50-meter-tall Starship HLS must still demonstrate orbital propellant transfer, targeted now for 2026, before carrying astronauts to the lunar surface. Blue Origin is positioning itself as a credible alternative with its proven New Glenn launch vehicle and advancing lunar lander program.
From a manufacturing standpoint, scaling reusable rocket operations will be crucial. The SpaceX Falcon 9 has executed a high operational tempo with its 516 landings and 484 reflights to date. To compete with SpaceX on price and cadence, Blue Origin must first ramp up production of New Glenn first stages, refine refurbishment workflows, and integrate rapid turnaround processes. The economics of reusability depend on minimizing inspection and repair cycles without compromising safety-an engineering challenge that will define the next phase of this rivalry.
With New Glenn’s first operational mission complete, Blue Origin has moved from proof-of-concept to active competitor. The ability to deliver payloads to orbit and recover boosters at sea is no longer a SpaceX monopoly, with implications for launch pricing, government contracts, and deep space missions that are immediate. We’ve entered a new era in the reusable rocket market, one in which the contest for dominance will be fought not just in the skies, but in the engineering labs and production lines that make these feats possible.
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#11 2026-01-12 15:30:12
- SpaceNut
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Re: Blue Origin Unmanned Missions
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#12 2026-04-12 07:06:15
- tahanson43206
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Re: Blue Origin Unmanned Missions
Mars_B4_Moon created a post about updates for the Escapade Mission.
Updates to this topic are welcome.
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#13 2026-04-12 07:19:46
- Mars_B4_Moon
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Re: Blue Origin Unmanned Missions
Thanks for finding this Tahanson43206
'Mars Was Once Warm and Wet. NASA’s ESCAPADE Is About to Learn What Went Wrong'
https://scitechdaily.com/mars-was-once- … ent-wrong/
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#14 2026-04-16 18:06:37
- tahanson43206
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Re: Blue Origin Unmanned Missions
For all ... it appears that Blue Origin will try a launch soon ...
Reuters
Blue Origin's third New Glenn launch faces key reuse test in rivalry with SpaceX
By Akash Sriram
Thu, April 16, 2026 at 10:35 AM EDT
2 min read
By Akash Sriram
April 16 (Reuters) - Blue Origin is set to launch its third New Glenn mission on Friday, carrying AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 satellite to low-Earth orbit in a flight that marks a pivotal step for the Jeff Bezos-led company's ambitions.
The mission is critical in proving New Glenn, a 29-story heavy-lift rocket, can compete with Elon Musk's SpaceX, by demonstrating reliable booster reuse, a capability that has underpinned Falcon 9's dominance.
"The successful flight of New Glenn-3 would end SpaceX's nine-year monopoly on orbital launch vehicle reusability, marking a historic shift toward a competitive, multi-player market," said Micah Walter-Range, president of space consulting firm Caelus Partners.
The mission is scheduled for a launch window between 6:45 a.m. and 12:19 p.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Following a series of delays earlier this month, the mission comes amid a surge of activity in the space sector, including a successful NASA Artemis II lunar flyby.
The rocket's booster, "Never Tell Me the Odds," previously flew on the NG-2 mission in November and was recovered, setting up this week's milestone attempt. The name is a nod to Han Solo's line in 'Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.'
A successful landing would also signal Blue Origin is narrowing a gap with SpaceX, which has confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO targeting a valuation of about $1.75 trillion.
Blue Origin said in November it would build a bigger, more powerful variant of its New Glenn rocket.
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#15 2026-04-17 06:13:17
- NewMarsMember
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Re: Blue Origin Unmanned Missions
Here is another preview of the New Glenn 3 launch:
Blue Origin is preparing for the third launch of its New Glenn rocket (NG-3), aiming to launch from Cape Canaveral, FL, with a window currently targeted for early morning on Sunday, April 19, 2026. The mission, carrying the AST SpaceMobile BlueBird 7 satellite, was previously eyed for a Friday/weekend timeframe following a successful hot-fire test.
Blue Origin
Blue Origin
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Key Details for the Upcoming New Glenn Launch:
Launch Date: Sunday, April 19, 2026 (No earlier than).
Launch Window: Opens 6:45 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. EDT.
Mission: NG-3 (third-ever New Glenn launch).
Payload: AST SpaceMobile Block 2 BlueBird satellite (broadband).
Booster: The "Never Tell Me The Odds" first-stage booster, which flew in November 2025, is scheduled to make its second flight and landing attempt.
Where to Watch: Live coverage is typically available at BlueOrigin.com.
The mission is a crucial milestone for reusable, large-scale commercial launches as Blue Origin faces competition with SpaceX.
Reuters
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#16 Yesterday 06:18:08
- tahanson43206
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Re: Blue Origin Unmanned Missions
This post is about the test launch for Sunday 2026/04/19
Via replay... the count down is in progress (or pending) at 12:17 UTC... 8:17 New Hampshire time. https://www.blueorigin.com/missions/ng-3
The actual launch took place earlier. The replay was so realistic I thought I was watching the actual launch.
Congratulations to everyone at Blue Origin for what appeared (to me) to be a perfect launch.
As I understand it, the payload is a satellite designed to provide Internet service to smartphones on the surface of Earth. That's quite a step up from the satellite dish equipment SpaceX requires with their Starlink service.
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#17 Yesterday 07:54:31
- GW Johnson
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Re: Blue Origin Unmanned Missions
Congrats to Blue Origin. It has joined ranks with Spacex in the heavy launch to orbit business, complete with reusable first stage boosters. They still need to establish the same kind of good track record as SpaceX has with its Falcons, but as good as their technology looks, I think that will happen, and fairly soon.
Meanwhile ULA's Vulcan is grounded for a fault in its SRB nozzles, and has yet to demonstrate any reusable anything. So, my conclusion is that "new space" is pulling ahead of "old space" in the heavy launch business. Not to mention several small "new space" launchers out there.
GW
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#18 Yesterday 09:36:43
- SpaceNut
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Re: Blue Origin Unmanned Missions
another tag line article for Blue Origin successfully re-uses a New Glenn rocket for the first time ever
Blue Origin has successfully reused one of its New Glenn rockets for the first time ever, marking a major milestone for the heavy-launch system as Jeff Bezos’ space company looks to compete with Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
The company accomplished the feat Sunday on just the third-ever launch of New Glenn, and a little more than one year after the first flight of the new rocket system, which has been in development for more than a decade.
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#19 Yesterday 14:10:49
- GW Johnson
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Re: Blue Origin Unmanned Missions
Turns out there was a glitch. The second stage put the satellite in the wrong orbit. Not just "wrong", completely unusable.
It is hard to tell from reports filed by reporters not technically competent, but it sounds like the second orbit-adjusting burn demanded of the second stage about an hour after it shut down, did not happen.
GW
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