Kent-based Blue Origin’s New Glenn (NG) successfully completed an integrated launch vehicle hotfire test in late December, the final major milestone on the company’s road to first flight for New Glenn.
NG-1 will carry a Blue Ring Pathfinder as its first manifested payload and eventually will launch from Launch Complex 36 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, according to a Blue Origin email.
Blue Origin announced that it is targeting no earlier than Friday, Jan. 10 for New Glenn’s inaugural mission, according to a Jan. 7 email. The company’s key objective is to reach orbit safely. It also wants to land the booster on its first try offshore in the Atlantic, but knows that’s an ambitious goal.
“This is our first flight and we’ve prepared rigorously for it,” said Jarrett Jones, New Glenn senior vice president. “But no amount of ground testing or mission simulations are a replacement for flying this rocket. It’s time to fly. No matter what happens, we’ll learn, refine, and apply that knowledge to our next launch.”
The seven-engine hotfire on Dec. 27 lasted 24 seconds and marked the first time Blue Origin operated the entire flight vehicle as an integrated system, according to the email. The multi-day test campaign leading up to the hotfire included numerous inert functional and tanking tests. The integrated launch vehicle included the first and second stages of the NG-1 flight vehicle, and a payload test article comprised of manufacturing test demonstrator fairings, a high-capacity fixed adapter flight unit, and a 45,000-pound payload mass simulator.
One of the primary goals of the test campaign was to demonstrate day-of-launch operations in ‘the company’s NG-1 test configuration. Additionally, the team conducted several tests to validate vehicle and ground systems in the fully integrated, on-pad configuration. This data will be utilized to finalize day-of-launch timelines, confirm expected performance, and correlate its models to real-world test data.
“This is a monumental milestone and a glimpse of what’s just around the corner for New Glenn’s first launch,” Jones said. “Today’s (Dec. 27) success proves that our rigorous approach to testing–combined with our incredible tooling and design engineering–is working as intended.”
The tanking test included a full run-through of the terminal count sequence, testing the hand-off authority to and from the flight computer, and collecting fluid validation data. The first stage (GS1) tanks were filled and pressed with liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquid oxygen (LOX), and the second stage (GS2) with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen–both to representative NG-1 set points.
The formal NG-1 Wet Dress Rehearsal demonstrated the final launch procedures leading into the hotfire engine run, according to Blue Origin. All seven engines performed nominally, firing for 24 seconds, including at 100% thrust for 13 seconds. The test also demonstrated New Glenn’s autogenous pressurization system, which self-generates gases to pressurize GS1’s propellant tanks.
The campaign met all objectives and marks the final major test prior to launch.
Blue Origin has several New Glenn vehicles in production and a full customer manifest. Customers include NASA, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, AST SpaceMobile, several telecommunications providers, and a mix of U.S. government customers. Blue Origin is certifying New Glenn with the U.S. Space Force for the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program to meet emerging national security objectives.
Amazon owner Jeff Bezos founded Blue Origin in 2000 in Kent.
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