Blue Origin announced several upgrades to its New Glenn rocket on Thursday that will take effect as soon as the launcher’s next flight.
The changes—announced just a week after Blue made history as the second rocket company to land an orbital booster—are aimed at boosting performance, increasing launch cadence, and making the platform more reliable, according to a press release.
Rev your engines: Engines on both stages of New Glenn will get a tune-up. The total thrust for the seven BE-4 booster engines on the rocket’s first stage will increase from 3.9M lbf to 4.5M lbf. The two upper stage BE-3Us will also get more power, increasing from total thrust of 320,000 lbf to 400,000 lbf.
Enter New Glenn 9×4: Blue Origin also unveiled its plans for a new super-heavy class rocket in the New Glenn family: the New Glenn 9×4 (so named because it will have nine engines on the first stage, and four on the second). The rocket is expected to be able to launch:
- 70+ metric tons to LEO
- 14+ metric tons to GEO
- And 20+ metric tons to trans-lunar injection.
The New Glenn 9×4 gives Blue a rocket that can play in a similar class to SpaceX’s Starship as the two billionaire-backed launchers compete to lead America’s return to the Moon.
Get back in the game: Blue is also implementing some updates to get New Glenn back on the pad faster after a mission, including a reusable fairing, lower-cost tank, and enhanced thermal protection to boost reusability and cut the time it takes to get ready to fly again.
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Orbit Fab wants to build gas stations in space, but for its latest contract win, perhaps petrol is the right word.
Today Orbit Fab announced it landed the first stage of a contract from ESA and the UK Space Agency worth £1.3M ($1.7M) to demonstrate in-space refueling capabilities by 2028 alongside a consortium of European partners from the UK, Austria, and Lithuania.
The Advance Satcom Technology with Refueling and Logistics, or ASTRAL contract is co-funded through ESA’s ARTES program and carries a total value of $3.8M.
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