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Telesat inks satellite internet deals with Loon and Blue Origin
Canadian telecom Telesat has inked a couple of deals that could boost its aim to become a key player in the satellite internet field. It's planning to establish a low-earth orbit network of 292 satellites, with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin helping to deploy them. Telesat will also use Alphabet-owned Loon's networking system to make sure the satellites work in harmony.
Blue Origin starts building the factory for New Glenn's engines
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket just became more tangible. The company has officially started construction on a factory in Huntsville, Alabama that will produce the BE-4 engines powering both New Glenn and United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur. It'll also make the BE-3U engines used for New Glenn's second stage. While it's not clear when the factory will start making rockets, Blue Origin expects to complete development later in 2019.
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket wins Air Force contract
The US Air Force has just awarded three aerospace corporations contracts worth $2.2 billion in an effort to ensure that it can rely on domestic partners for launch vehicles. One of those companies is the Jeff Bezos-owned private space company Blue Origin, which will receive $500 million for the development of its New Glenn heavy lift orbital rocket. New Glenn was designed to have a reusable first stage and have the power to fly a 50-ton payload to Low Earth Orbit or a 14-ton load to geosynchronous orbit.
Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engine completes first hot-fire test
Blue Origin was a bit of a mystery to the public for quite awhile. After all, unlike competitor SpaceX, the company haven't always been welcoming to the scrutiny that comes with inviting the media in. But that changed in early 2016, when reporters were invited into the space tourism company's headquarters for the first time. Since then, Jeff Bezos' company has been more open with the public, and yesterday it tweeted about a new milestone. The company's BE-4 engine successfully completed a hot-fire test. The engine was fired at 50 percent power for three seconds, according to Ars Technica.
Jeff Bezos’ rocket company has its first Asian customer
Blue Origin, which is Jeff Bezos' rocket company, just announced a milestone at the 68th Annual International Astronautical Congress. It has partnered with the connnectivity company mu Space, based in Thailand, to launch a satellite with the New Glenn rocket. This is the first partnership between the Blue Origin and an Asia-Pacific client, and the third company to sign up for a New Glenn launch.
After Math: Keep pace in the space race
It's been a productive week for those of us trying to get the hell off this crazy planet. NASA showed off a radiation-proof flight vest for interplanetary astronauts while Blue Origin debuted its latest rocket engine and previewed its upcoming New Glenn spacecraft. We also take a look at a solar farm visible from the ISS and examine just how badly the Trump regime is gutting NASA's Earth Science programs. Numbers, because how else will we know when it's time to blast off?
Blue Origin shows how 'New Glenn' rocket will fly and land
Yesterday Blue Origin showed off the BE-4 engine for its "New Glenn" rocket, and today CEO Jeff Bezos revealed its launch customer and an animation showing how it'll fly. Its new ship is capable of putting a 50-ton payload into a low-Earth orbit or 14 tons in a geosynchronous orbit and then landing the first stage on a moving barge (video, below). That's nearly identical, of course, to what the SpaceX Falcon 9 can do. Blue Origin has also landed the New Shepard's first stage multiple times (on land), but it's not an orbital-capable rocket like the Falcon 9.
Blue Origin's latest rocket engine is finally complete
After six years of development, the first of Blue Origin's new BE-4 rocket engines has finally been fully assembled. The company's founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, debuted the images via a series of tweets.
Jeff Bezos' next rocket is a massive, reusable booster
Jeff Bezos isn't about to let SpaceX have the private heavy-duty rocket field to itself. Blue Origin has introduced New Glenn (named after astronaut John Glenn), a massive reusable booster rocket that makes SpaceX's Falcon Heavy look modest. The two-stage model already dwarfs the Falcon at 270 feet tall, while the three-stage version is nearly as tall as the legendary Saturn V at 313 feet. Yes, it's more than a little Freudian, but it'll be helpful getting both satellites and people into space.
