Function | Heavy-lift launch vehicle |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Blue Origin |
Country of origin | United States |
Project cost | At least US$2.5 billion[1] |
Cost per launch | $68 million[2] |
Size | |
Height | 98 m (322 ft)[3] |
Diameter | 7 m (23 ft) |
Stages | 2 |
Capacity | |
Payload to LEO | |
Mass | 45,000 kg (99,000 lb)[4][5] |
Payload to GTO | |
Mass | 13,600 kg (30,000 lb)[4][5] |
Payload to TLI | |
Mass | 7,000 kg (15,000 lb)[6] |
Associated rockets | |
Comparable | |
Launch history | |
Status | In development |
Launch sites | Cape Canaveral, LC‑36 Vandenberg, SLC‑9 (future) |
First flight | NET December 2024 (planned)[7] |
Type of passengers/cargo | |
First stage – GS1 | |
Height | 57.5 m (189 ft) |
Diameter | 7 m (23 ft) |
Powered by | 7 × BE-4 |
Maximum thrust | 17,100 kN (3,850,000 lbf) |
Propellant | LOX / CH4 |
Second stage – GS2 | |
Height | 23.4 m (77 ft) |
Diameter | 7 m (23 ft) |
Powered by | 2 × BE-3U |
Maximum thrust | 1,540 kN (346,000 lbf) |
Propellant | LOX / LH2 |
New Glenn is a heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by Blue Origin, named after NASA astronaut John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit Earth.[8] New Glenn is a two-stage rocket with a diameter of 7 m (23 ft). Its first stage is powered by seven BE-4 engines that are also designed and manufactured by Blue Origin. It is intended to launch from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 36 (and eventually Vandenberg Space Launch Complex 9),[9] with the first stage landing on a barge called Landing Platform Vessel 1.[10][11] The inaugural vehicle was unveiled on the launch pad in February 2024.[12][13]
Development of the New Glenn rocket started before 2013 and was formally announced in 2016,[14][15] with an inaugural flight planned for 2020.[16] After multiple delays, as of October 2024, the first launch is expected to take place sometime in December 2024, carrying a prototype Blue Ring spacecraft. This launch will also serve as a National Security Space Launch demonstration mission.[7]
Like the New Shepard suborbital launch vehicle used for space tourism activities, the New Glenn's first stage has been designed to be reusable since its inception.[15] In 2021, the company started a program to make the second stage reusable as well, with the project codenamed Project Jarvis.[17] A first test tank for Project Jarvis was created in 2021.[18]
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