Blue Origin completes first full dress rehearsal countdown and static fire test of New Glenn
Blue Origin today successfully completed the first full dress rehearsal countdown and static fire test of its New Glenn orbital rocket at its launchpad at Cape Canaveral.
The tanking test included a full run-through of the terminal count sequence, testing the hand-off authority to and from the flight computer, and collecting fluid validation data. The first stage (GS1) tanks were filled and pressed with liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquid oxygen (LOX), and the second stage (GS2) with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen–both to representative NG-1 set points.
The formal NG-1 Wet Dress Rehearsal demonstrated the final launch procedures leading into the hotfire engine run. All seven engines performed nominally, firing for 24 seconds, including at 100% thrust for 13 seconds. The test also demonstrated New Glenn’s autogenous pressurization system, which self-generates gases to pressurize GS1’s propellant tanks.
According to the company, the test achieved all its engineering goals, apparently making it ready for its targeted January 6, 2025 launch date. Beforehand however it will be rolled back into the assembly building so that its payload, Blue Origin’s Blue Ring orbital tug, can be stacked inside the fairings to fly a demo mission for the military.
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Blue Origin today successfully completed the first full dress rehearsal countdown and static fire test of its New Glenn orbital rocket at its launchpad at Cape Canaveral.
The tanking test included a full run-through of the terminal count sequence, testing the hand-off authority to and from the flight computer, and collecting fluid validation data. The first stage (GS1) tanks were filled and pressed with liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquid oxygen (LOX), and the second stage (GS2) with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen–both to representative NG-1 set points.
The formal NG-1 Wet Dress Rehearsal demonstrated the final launch procedures leading into the hotfire engine run. All seven engines performed nominally, firing for 24 seconds, including at 100% thrust for 13 seconds. The test also demonstrated New Glenn’s autogenous pressurization system, which self-generates gases to pressurize GS1’s propellant tanks.
According to the company, the test achieved all its engineering goals, apparently making it ready for its targeted January 6, 2025 launch date. Beforehand however it will be rolled back into the assembly building so that its payload, Blue Origin’s Blue Ring orbital tug, can be stacked inside the fairings to fly a demo mission for the military.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
I hope they have good camera feeds especially on the Landing Platform Vessel #1 for the first stage return of New Glenn.
Jan 6th is the
Feast of the Epiphany.
Here’s hoping for a successful flight. Though I have my doubts based mainly on the lack of track record for several simultaneous firsts. If wrong, I’ll take my crow roasted with a side of bbq sauce.
They apparently have been working on this WDR for several weeks ago, and have had to delay due to everything from inability to get consumables delivered in the quantities they needed to unspecified technical problems with both the rocket and the launch complex. They’ve worked through the issues and had a good test today, and I wish them luck, but the odds of them getting even a nearly perfect flight when they’re still having show stopper issues this close to launch are rather low.
For SpaceX, even a partially successful flight is a mission success, because that’s how they operate and that’s the expectations they set. BO on the other hand really needs to get to orbit on the first try, both because that’s the culture they represent, and also their launch manifest is starting to look really tight already.
The NSF guys on their stream identified what they thought appeared to be as many as 4 failed attempts at a static fire. Hard to be sure, but I think there’s a general sense based on what was happening on the pad that they had somewhat of a struggle to execute this fire.
But they finally did, and it’s great to see.
Doesn’t seem like they will make the 2024 target after all; Berger’s Law* is vindicated yet again. But if they can launch in the next few weeks, I think they have to be happy. Assuming it is a successful launch, of course. Executing the first stage landing would be a bonus (and probably an unlikely one).
P.S. There was a nice little exchange between Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk on X last night:
Jeff Bezos: Next stop launch
Elon Musk: Godspeed!
Jeff Bezos: [Prayer emoji]
https://x.com/JeffBezos/status/1872835817523270078
_____
* Coined by Eric Berger: “If rocket is predicted to make its debut in Q4 of a calendar year, and that quarter is six or more months away, the launch will be delayed.”
I’m glad to see that the Musk-Bezos relationship seems to be more cordial than after SpaceX first landed a Falcon 9 first stage! Bezos tweeted to Musk “Welcome to the club”, which many (including me) thought was pretty cheeky, considering that the Falcon 9 is an orbital class booster, while New Shepard was suborbital.
Of course, New Shepard is still the only vehicle BO has ever launched, a situation that will hopefully soon change!
I wish BO luck making orbit but give it a 50/50 chance with the 2nd stage using new engines. Furthermore, I predict a 10% chance of landing the booster on the barge on the first try. If they make it that far, it will probably be a soft or hard sea landing.
I watched the static fire multiple times and was amazed that they ran the engines up to 100% given the lack of a bright exhaust plume that is the norm with watching numerous SpX static fires. It looked to me more like a spin prime test visually because even a F9 static fire seems more visually “energetic” than the 45 seconds New Glenn static fire. That said, I hope they are successful and look forward to their first launch.
I do hope Elon and Jeff work together