New Glenn : Blue Moon MK1 Pathfinder : NET March 2025

[gongora]

Discussion thread for launch of Blue Origin's Blue Moon MK1 Pathfinder lunar lander.

Launching NET March 2025 from CCSFS.  Insertion orbit is in LEO.

SAT-LOA-20240801-00168

[gongora]

Trying to license a 20-ton lunar lander using the small satellite licensing rules is a little iffy.

[Vultur]

That launch date seems incredibly aggressive. Yeah, it's NET but still... March 2025 is only seven months away.

[Eric Hedman]

I will believe it when I see it.

[Rakietwawka2021]

So no moon landing?

[meekGee]

I will believe it when I see it.

Sames, but rather this than the old "we're not in a hurry" stance

[GewoonLukas_]

So no moon landing?

No, it will perform a landing:

25.114(d)(14)(vii)

A statement detailing the disposal plans for the space station, including the quantity of fuel – if any – that will be reserved for disposal maneuvers. In addition, the following specific provisions apply:

Blue Moon MK1 Pathfinder will be disposed of on the Lunar surface after its soft landing, away from sites of historical prevalence or future mission interest.

[JCRM]

Trying to license a 20-ton lunar lander using the small satellite licensing rules is a little iffy.

But they don't have lunar lander licensing rules, so what can you do?

It's not intended to be in its own orbit for long, so the small sat rules are the most applicable.

[yg1968]

NASA payload to fly on first Blue Origin lunar lander mission:
https://spacenews.com/nasa-payload-to-fly-on-first-blue-origin-lunar-lander-mission/

See also this link:
https://sam.gov/opp/bc53a5b240d5469da1b23e8184f4d999/view

[Tywin]

Now this is the second NG flight schedule in the wiki, is that right?

[trimeta]

Now this is the second NG flight schedule in the wiki, is that right?

The earliest possible launch date for ESCAPADE is "spring 2025." So the question is, could the Blue Moon MK1 Pathfinder and ESCAPADE both fly before or during "spring 2025"? I know that Blue Origin believes that they at present know everything they could possibly need to know about operating reusable orbital-class launch vehicles, so as soon as the Blue Ring Demo mission launches they'll immediately start launching New Glenns at a higher cadence than they've ever achieved with New Shepard, but we'll see if their "in theory, theory and practice are the same" concept holds.

[StraumliBlight]

Amendment of Application for Authority to Deploy and Operate Vigoride-5 (SAT-AMD-20241127-00273) [Nov 27]

Addition of a Payload to the mission manifest.

SCALPSS

Blue Origin was selected to fly a Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS) through NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. The SCALPSS payload consists of four cameras, data storage unit, and a USB hub.

The purpose of the SCALPSS payload is to capture the plume after impact with the lunar surface during our landing to further understand dust transport dynamics and surface alteration driving by high thrust lunar landing engines.

Blue Origin was chosen to fly this NASA payload due to the capability of the BE-7 engine to produce an excess of 8,000 pounds-force of thrust.

The SCALPSS system is directly connected to the Blue Moon MK1 Pathfinder and payload data will be relayed back to Earth using the Blue Moon MK1 Pathfinder’s through the existing direct to Earth X-Band system.