Seven BE-4s ✅#NewGlenn engine installation is complete!
From what I hear, there is good progress toward getting a FAA launch license but getting it in time for a November launch would be "tight."
The DS-1 flight system, comprised of Blue Origin avionics equipment, is expected to be launched as a non-separable, primary payload on the upper stage of a National Security Space Launch-class launch vehicle (“LV”) with an expected launch date in Q4 2024. The mission will be an elliptical medium Earth orbit (“MEO”) of approximately 19300 km apogee, 2400 km perigee, at an inclination of 30 degrees.
[DS-1 flight system] moved [from Vulcan Centaur stage of GPS III SV07] to the first New Glenn flight.
#NewGlenn’s GS1 is on the move! Our transporter comprises two trailers connected by cradles and a strongback assembly designed in-house. There are 22 axles and 176 tires on this transport vehicle. It’s towed by an Oshkosh M1070, a repurposed U.S. Army tank transporter, with 505 horsepower and 1,825 pound-feet of torque. Seems fitting we’ve named it GERT -- Giant Enormous Rocket Truck. The distance between GERT’s front bumper and the trailer's rear is 310’, about the length of a football field. It’s a 23-mile, multiple-hour journey to our pad because we have to take the long way around.
https://twitter.com/davill/status/1851498623949029778Quote#NewGlenn’s GS1 is on the move! Our transporter comprises two trailers connected by cradles and a strongback assembly designed in-house. There are 22 axles and 176 tires on this transport vehicle. It’s towed by an Oshkosh M1070, a repurposed U.S. Army tank transporter, with 505 horsepower and 1,825 pound-feet of torque. Seems fitting we’ve named it GERT -- Giant Enormous Rocket Truck. The distance between GERT’s front bumper and the trailer's rear is 310’, about the length of a football field. It’s a 23-mile, multiple-hour journey to our pad because we have to take the long way around.
It's easy to forget just how massive some rockets are. Watching @blueorigin roll GS1 out to LC-36 really impressed upon me just how massive New Glenn is.📸 - @NASASpaceflight
Blue Origin's GS1 for New Glenn's first launch makes its way toward LC-36.📸- @NASASpaceflight
Can they make orbit this year?Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos has been pushing the company hard to launch New Glenn for the first time this year, and the schedule is getting tight. Blue Origin already had to stand down from an October launch attempt and delay the launch of a small Mars-bound payload for NASA called ESCAPADE.So how long will New Glenn sit at the pad before launching? Consider the example of SpaceX and its Falcon Heavy rocket, also a heavy-lift vehicle. SpaceX moved that rocket to the launch pad for the first time on December 28, 2017, and hot fired the vehicle on January 24 of the following year. Liftoff of the first Falcon Heavy rocket occurred February 6. All of this work comprised 40 days.This is far from a perfect comparison, as the Falcon Heavy—comprising three Falcon 9 cores—was a more complex vehicle in terms of integrating the three large rockets into a coherent first stage. However by that time SpaceX had launched nearly 50 Falcon 9 rockets, so they had much more operational experience than Blue Origin, with its debut orbital system. SpaceX is also known for working quickly. Thus, a reasonable no-earlier-than date for New Glenn's debut is likely early to mid-December.It's going to be close.
Blue Origin's New Glenn booster "GS1" rolled out to LC-36 this morning for testing ahead of a potential launch later this year.Justin Davenport Overviews:
Blue Origin rolls out New Glenn’s first stage for testingwritten by Justin Davenport October 30, 2024 Fresh off the successful New Shepard NS-27 flight, Blue Origin is making intense preparations for the first flight of its long-awaited New Glenn heavy-lift rocket. The company has rolled out New Glenn’s first stage, equipped with seven BE-4 engines, for a static test firing. This is part of an effort to make the flight by the end of 2024.
Welcome to LC-36, #NewGlenn!
Up next: Integrated launch vehicle hotfire. (And one of my favorite photos from the move!)
Does “integrated” mean you’ll stack the entire vehicle including upper stage before the static firing? Also is this going to be a full scale WDR/test firing w/all 7 engines?
Yup, booster and 2nd stage will be integrated for the hot fire.
Go-GERT! A final few pics from #NewGlenn’s journey to LC-36. Coming up: Integrated launch vehicle hotfire 🔥
I just think it's cool that they can move that massive beast with only 500 horsepower. It's a pretty flat journey and they aren't going very fast but I still think it's cool.
Even big airport tugs may only have ~120hp.
Quote from: kraisee on 11/01/2024 01:47 amEven big airport tugs may only have ~120hp.The T80 push back tug that can handle an A380 has 408 bhp:https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/27386/how-much-force-is-needed-to-tow-an-airliner#27387
Quote from: Eric Hedman on 11/01/2024 02:14 amQuote from: kraisee on 11/01/2024 01:47 amEven big airport tugs may only have ~120hp.The T80 push back tug that can handle an A380 has 408 bhp:https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/27386/how-much-force-is-needed-to-tow-an-airliner#27387Right but an A380 is probably 500-600 tons taking off... An empty NG Booster is 1/10 of that. Add the strong back, but still.As much as we marvel at all these giant rockets, airplanes are larger beasts, and have been for decades.
