Author Topic: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida  (Read 190454 times)

Offline Chasm

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Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #140 on: 02/23/2018 02:56 am »
That looks like less than half the building, the other side is curtained off. If they bothered to wall it off there is probably something interesting back there.

Their big building consists of has three long halls. The two pictures show the middle hall. First one at 1/4 of the length. Because of perspective the second one is actually 3/4 (Well, the top right corner of the image is) The end should be just out of shot.

Activity is hard to judge. They started occupancy last year. Latest public terraserver image is 2018-01-04
There is a square building on the western limit of the plot, under the pond, wich has been completed in spring 2017 or so. 2016-10 had a slab with steel framing. In 2017-05 it was complete with marked parking spaces, was landscaped and fenced off.


Who is in the new building to the north east, on the other side of the road?
Construction started between 2016-10 and 2017-05 it had a roof in 2017-11.

Offline envy887

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Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #141 on: 02/23/2018 03:27 am »
That looks like less than half the building, the other side is curtained off. If they bothered to wall it off there is probably something interesting back there.

Their big building consists of has three long halls. The two pictures show the middle hall. First one at 1/4 of the length. Because of perspective the second one is actually 3/4 (Well, the top right corner of the image is) The end should be just out of shot.

Activity is hard to judge. They started occupancy last year. Latest public terraserver image is 2018-01-04
There is a square building on the western limit of the plot, under the pond, wich has been completed in spring 2017 or so. 2016-10 had a slab with steel framing. In 2017-05 it was complete with marked parking spaces, was landscaped and fenced off.


Who is in the new building to the north east, on the other side of the road?
Construction started between 2016-10 and 2017-05 it had a roof in 2017-11.

In the second pic you cannot tell whether the 3/4 of the building has anything on the floor, because of that black curtain. Not sure if you can see into that curtained off area in any other pics...

Offline woods170

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Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #142 on: 02/23/2018 07:20 am »
That looks like less than half the building, the other side is curtained off. If they bothered to wall it off there is probably something interesting back there.

Their big building consists of has three long halls. The two pictures show the middle hall. First one at 1/4 of the length. Because of perspective the second one is actually 3/4 (Well, the top right corner of the image is) The end should be just out of shot.

Activity is hard to judge. They started occupancy last year. Latest public terraserver image is 2018-01-04
There is a square building on the western limit of the plot, under the pond, wich has been completed in spring 2017 or so. 2016-10 had a slab with steel framing. In 2017-05 it was complete with marked parking spaces, was landscaped and fenced off.


Who is in the new building to the north east, on the other side of the road?
Construction started between 2016-10 and 2017-05 it had a roof in 2017-11.

In the second pic you cannot tell whether the 3/4 of the building has anything on the floor, because of that black curtain. Not sure if you can see into that curtained off area in any other pics...

Plain and simple: Blue Origin knew that a NASA photographer was to accompany VP Pence. That black curtain was there to hide stuff from public view. Stuff that Blue doesn't want to be viewed by the general public at this stage of NG development.
Think tooling and (prototype) parts and components.

Offline rory

Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #143 on: 02/23/2018 08:52 pm »
Nice building.  Any indication if work has started, cars in the parking lots, etc.?  We've heard that they are getting tooling in, anything else?

Also, I don't think two years is crazy for STAs to roll out which will be great to see, but engine testing would have to be flight qualifying this year to make full-up orbital launch in 2020.  Might happen -- no indications they are that close.  On the other hand, Vulcan is planning to launch mid-2020, so it is still possible the engine will be ready.

The parking lot was nearly full when I went by on 2/8. Hard to tell how many of them were Blue Origin employees and how many were construction workers, however. (Something tells me engineers don't drive that many pickup trucks...)

Offline Chasm

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Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #144 on: 02/23/2018 09:07 pm »
Which is why I stressed the corner.  :)
Looking at aerial images and counting pillars once more there are ~32 total so it is actually only half of the full length.

Why put your machinery into a huge (~230x55 meter) hall with almost full size roll up doors on both ends? That sounds like final assembly/storage/inspection/refit to me.
I think they have the interesting stuff in the side halls. Most of them had a roof as of 2017/03.

The western building however got a LOT more interesting. Take a look at Bing, or 2016/10 images. A mighty funny structure they have in there, right next to the big no parking zone. Each circle happens to be ~7m diameter. On other images you can see them building the frame above it, so it is now an interior structure.

Offline envy887

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Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #145 on: 02/24/2018 01:12 am »
Machinery to lay CRFP and stir weld aluminum at 7 meter diameter doesn't fit in most "side halls"...

Offline Chasm

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Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #146 on: 02/24/2018 02:40 am »
Really? I don't think so.
Lets measure again in Google Earth and with a picture taken square form the north for heights. Only the big stuff

Width overall is on the order of 167 meter. "Left" 65m, center 62m, right (parking lot) 42m.

Length is split up a lot and not of the same overall length.
Center is the longest with 241 meter.
Left, lower is 108m. (This one tallest after center, 25m?)
Left upper is 112m. (This is supposed to be ~half the height of the lower)
Right, lower (looking form the parking lot left of central entry) is 108m
Right, entry is 25m.
Right, upper (looking form the parking lot right of central entry) is 91m

Central height ~33m, crane clearance ~22m, door clearance ~19m (pond side door).
Right height is ~22m (both). Or 9.5 flights of external fire escape stairs, however much that tends to be in Florida. :)


Even the "small" addition on the south end of the left hall is big enough to transfer first stage into the main hall. 65x14 meter
There is a whole lot of room in the other areas of the factory outside the main section.


The north west building, just the roof of the tall part, is 41m wide, 51m long. The two(?) story part adds another 9m to width. No pictures of this one in a quick search so no height.

Offline FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #147 on: 02/27/2018 08:31 pm »
Quote
Henderson: Blue Origin has invested more than $200M so far for just-completed manufacturing facility and launch complex under construction (LC-36).

https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/968591665236725760

Offline Beittil

Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #148 on: 03/14/2018 02:59 pm »
Who is in the new building to the north east, on the other side of the road?
Construction started between 2016-10 and 2017-05 it had a roof in 2017-11.
That would be Oneweb

Offline Slarty1080

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Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #149 on: 04/05/2018 07:49 pm »
Wow, I had no idea of what had been happening with New Origins and I was just getting up to speed on the situation on this thread from the start : https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=41146.60
which links here. Someone asked where is the New Glenn going to be Built -  and here it is the whole factory from brown field to finished plant in 18 months or so!
My optimistic hope is that it will become cool to really think about things... rather than just doing reactive bullsh*t based on no knowledge (Brian Cox)

Offline WindnWar

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Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #150 on: 04/05/2018 08:36 pm »
I saw the building on my way into the KSC Visitors Center the day after watching Falcon Heavy launch. Was an impressive looking building. At that time there were not a lot of cars in it's parking lot.

Offline Slarty1080

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Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #151 on: 04/05/2018 11:10 pm »
I saw the building on my way into the KSC Visitors Center the day after watching Falcon Heavy launch. Was an impressive looking building. At that time there were not a lot of cars in it's parking lot.

Interesting - so do you think they are waiting on something before building NG? I got the impression that it was all underway...
My optimistic hope is that it will become cool to really think about things... rather than just doing reactive bullsh*t based on no knowledge (Brian Cox)

Offline Jim

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Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #152 on: 04/10/2018 01:21 pm »
I saw the building on my way into the KSC Visitors Center the day after watching Falcon Heavy launch. Was an impressive looking building. At that time there were not a lot of cars in it's parking lot.

Interesting - so do you think they are waiting on something before building NG? I got the impression that it was all underway...

It is still in design and also need to add tooling to the building

Offline Inoeth

Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #153 on: 04/11/2018 03:31 am »
I saw the building on my way into the KSC Visitors Center the day after watching Falcon Heavy launch. Was an impressive looking building. At that time there were not a lot of cars in it's parking lot.

Interesting - so do you think they are waiting on something before building NG? I got the impression that it was all underway...

It is still in design and also need to add tooling to the building

Yeah, considering that they just recently (as of January or February- I don't know which month exactly) they changed from using the BE4 U to two BE3U's means that they're still finalizing the design and quite possibly finalizing their BE4 and BE3U development for the rocket, plus, as you said, they need the design finalized before they can bring in all the tooling and begin to build the rockets... SpaceX builds a Falcon 9 in what, a year from starting with raw materials to launch? so I would perhaps guess that BO will need at least a year and a half once design is complete and possibly two to build the very first prototype New Glenn... It's April of 2018 and BO's plan is end of 2020 so at this point I would guess that they need to start bending metal by the middle of this year if they hope to make their debut date.


You said you didn't see many cars on the day after FH back in February- I wonder what it looks like now 2 months later in terms of activity occurring....

Offline Robotbeat

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Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #154 on: 04/13/2018 01:19 pm »
Quote
Henderson: Blue Origin has invested more than $200M so far for just-completed manufacturing facility and launch complex under construction (LC-36).

https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/968591665236725760
SpaceX invested about $100,000 in their BFR factory tent at the LA port that’s housing their tooling.  (I know it’s just for storage, but so hilarious anyway.)
« Last Edit: 04/13/2018 01:19 pm by Robotbeat »
Chris  Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

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Online Craig_VG

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Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #155 on: 05/08/2018 02:33 am »
Drove by the manufacturing site today... wow it has definitely come a long way!

Check out the booster inside

Offline wannamoonbase

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Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #156 on: 05/08/2018 02:34 pm »
Quote
Henderson: Blue Origin has invested more than $200M so far for just-completed manufacturing facility and launch complex under construction (LC-36).

https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/968591665236725760
SpaceX invested about $100,000 in their BFR factory tent at the LA port that’s housing their tooling.  (I know it’s just for storage, but so hilarious anyway.)

The picture of LC36 gets me excited, I miss working at CCAFS.  It was my Graceland.

It will be interesting to see if they build a pad that can handle growth of a vehicle or just handle NG.
Wildly optimistic prediction, Superheavy recovery on IFT-4 or IFT-5

Online Craig_VG

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Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #157 on: 05/08/2018 03:03 pm »
Here's some photos from similar angles... summer of 2016, 2017, and 2018

Offline su27k

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Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #158 on: 08/01/2018 03:09 pm »
Some impressive tooling will be heading to the factory: http://www.rrstar.com/news/20180717/rockford-made-machine-to-build-parts-for-next-generation-rockets (link discovered by reddit)

Quote
Ingersoll Machine Tools has built the largest machine of its kind in the world for the world’s richest man — Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, who will use the engineering marvel to build rockets to carry humans to the moon and maybe even Mars.

It took three years to design and manufacture the Sasquatch-sized machine, which stands 51 feet tall, 136 feet long and 43 feet wide. The machine — its trademarked name is Mongoose — will be disassembled in coming weeks and shipped to Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket factory, at Kennedy Space Center’s Exploration Park on Merritt Island, Florida.

There, the machine will be reassembled and will manufacture cryogenic tanks that will be filled with liquid oxygen and hydrogen to fuel rockets. The machine also will build fairings — large aerodynamic structures that encapsulate rocket payloads like satellites and other critical equipment.

it's a fiber placement machine, and they said it will be used to build tanks, does this mean New Glenn will use carbon fiber tank too?
« Last Edit: 08/01/2018 03:09 pm by su27k »

Offline ncb1397

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Re: Blue Origin Manufacturing site in Florida
« Reply #159 on: 08/01/2018 05:18 pm »
Quote
Henderson: Blue Origin has invested more than $200M so far for just-completed manufacturing facility and launch complex under construction (LC-36).

https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/968591665236725760
SpaceX invested about $100,000 in their BFR factory tent at the LA port that’s housing their tooling.  (I know it’s just for storage, but so hilarious anyway.)

Seems like $500,000 for the tent and a fence:

https://www.portoflosangeles.org/Board/2017/November%202017/111617_Regular_Agenda_Item_I.pdf

And the Blue Origin factory is 38x the size.
« Last Edit: 08/01/2018 05:27 pm by ncb1397 »

 

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