Blue Origin rolls out New Glenn first stage to launch pad

Aerospace company Blue Origin has recently rolled out the first stage of the New Glenn rocket from its factory to the launch complex 36. This reflects the company’s first launch attempt this year.

The New Glenn rocket is 320 ft tall and consists of landing gear, strakes, reusable first stage, fins, vacuum, upper stage, and a top fairing for payload.

The first stage of this rocket uses seven BE-4 engines with liquid oxygen (LOX)/liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel. The first-stage engines generate a thrust of 550,000 lbf (2,450 kN) at sea level. This engine was also used in ULA’s first Vulcan launch.

The second stage uses two BE-3U engines with 160,000 lbf (710 kN) of thrust in vacuum.

Blue Origin said that its New Glenn rocket is built and refurbished in the Cape Canaveral factory. The rocket launch is set through Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, which is about 14km away from the rocket factory.

Blue Origin leased LC-36 in 2015 and invested around $1 billion to rebuild the launch site.

Blue Origin New Glenn First Stage Moving toward Launch Complex 36, Cape Canaveral

Launch Milestones:

Following a liftoff, New Glenn will ascent and call for hot staging and first-stage separation, which will descend to a landing platform located 620 miles down on the ground.

After stage separation, the second stage will ignite its BE-3U engines to lead the fairings into space to deliver the payload.

For now, Blue Origin has not shared a specific flight date for New Glenn.

(source – X)