Blue Origin

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Blue Origin is an aerospace research and development company working on spacecraft and launch systems. It was founded by Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos.

Blue Origin

Blue Origin is developing technologies to enable human access to space at increased reliability and dramatically lower cost. Blue Origin are currently focused on developing reusable launch vehicles utilizing rocket-powered Vertical Take-off and Vertical Landing (VTVL) technology.

Suborbital

New Shepard Vehicle
The New Shepard system is being developed by Blue Origin. New Shepard vehicle will provide opportunities for researchers to fly experiments into space and a microgravity environment. It will take astronauts to space on suborbital flights.

The New Shepard vehicle will carry a Crew Capsule carrying three or more astronauts atop a separate rocket-powered Propulsion Module that will be launched from their West Texas Launch Site.

Following liftoff, the combined vehicles accelerate for approximately two and a half minutes. The Propulsion Module then shuts off its rocket engines and separates from the Crew Capsule. The Propulsion Module will finish its flight, descend to Earth and autonomously perform a rocket-powered vertical landing.

The Crew Capsule will go on to coast to the edge of space, providing astronauts with a view to the curvature of the Earth and the beauty of our planet. After descent and reentry into Earth’s atmosphere, the Crew Capsule will land under parachutes near the launch site.

On 1st July 2021 Blue Origin announced Blue Origin to fly Wally Funk, one of the Mercury 13 women on first crewed New Shepard flight. Date of flight might be 20 July 2021.

Reusable 1st Stage

Blue Origin is developing a reusable first-stage booster. It will take-off vertically like a conventional booster rocket and lift the upper stages to a conventional suborbital staging point, where the upper stage will separate and continue to propel the astronauts to orbit.

The first stage booster once separated will descend to perform a powered vertical landing similar to the New Shepard Propulsion Module. Then the orbital booster can be refueled and launched again, allowing improved reliability and lowering the cost of human access to space.

Orbital Reusable Booster System

The booster rocket will loft a biconic Space Vehicle to orbit, carrying astronauts and supplies for adventure, science research, and exploration. After orbiting the Earth, the Space Vehicle will reenter Earth’s atmosphere to land on land under parachutes, and then be reused on future missions to Earth orbit.

New Glenn Orbital Launch Vehicle

Blue Origin announced New Glenn in September 2016. New Glenn will consist either two stage or three stages. The first stage will be reusable and will be powered by 7 BE4 methane / lox engines.

New Armstrong Launch Vehicle

This vehicle maybe used to spend payloads to the moon in the future.

Launch Sites

History

Founded in September 2000.

The company was awarded $3.7 million in funding in 2009 by NASA under the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program for development of concepts and technologies to support future human spaceflight operations.

In 2011 Blue Origin began working on BE-4 (Blue Engine 4) which is their first rocket engine to use liquid methane and liquid oxygen and liquid methane as propellants. The engine will be used by Blue Origin’s New Glenn and ULA’s Vulcan rocket (successor to Atlas-V)

Blue Origin Company

Blue Origin LLC
21218 76th Avenue S. Kent,
Washington 98032-2442

Did you know?

* Other competitor space companies include SpaceX.

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