Blue Origin

This week, SpaceX hit its first triple-digit launch year and continues to extend that number in the remaining months of 2024. Blue Origin might finally get its NS-27 mission off the ground to certify its new New Shepard rocket. Finally, NASA’s Artemis program is once again under fire for being behind schedule and so much… so much… over budget.

This week SpaceX returns with the FAA‘s okay to resume launches, starting with ESA‘s Hera mission to the asteroid Didymos. Late-week weather around the Florida Peninsula will, however, likely delay several missions the company has.

This week, Blue Origin made another step in the right direction in getting its New Glenn rocket to the pad for launch. On Thursday, the company fueled up its New Glenn second stage and conducted a 15-second risk reduction static fire.

This week we’re discussing Polaris Dawn’s return to the launch pad, with a hopeful launch this time, and Blue Origin’s delay in its ESCAPADE mission. But for now, eyes are on Polaris Dawn as it attempts to launch and fight off poor weather forecasts on its historic mission.

Blue Origin‘s newly constructed landing barge arrived at Port Canaveral earlier today. Named after Jeff Bezos’ mother, Jacklyn, it will support at-sea landings and recoveries of the company’s New Glenn rocket.

Blue Origin announced Wednesday its crew for the NS-26 missions. On board will be several high achieving and and lucky individuals that will get the chance to fly and feel weightlessness above the Karman Line. One of the crew members, a daughter of a previous participant, will become the youngest woman to reach 100 km.

Following a long delay in flights, Blue Origin is returning to crewed spaceflight missions for its New Shepard rocket, with a launch date scheduled for May 19. The missions will carry six customers to an altitude just above the Karman Line.

Over the last few weeks NASA has announced a plethora of partnerships and contracts for lunar rovers that astronauts will eventually use on future Artemis missions. Those rovers will of course need a ride to the Moon, which will come in the like of cargo variants of NASA’s HLS landers, Starship and Blue Moon.

Wednesday Blue Origin transported a New Glenn booster to LC-36 from its rocket factory just outside Kennedy Space Center‘s gates. We aren’t certain how much of this booster is flight hardware, however, the more hardware we see the higher we believe chances of a launch this year is possible.

Three reports have collaborated the current list of bidders that wish to buy United Launch Alliance: Blue Origin, Textron, and Cerberus. The sale isn’t guaranteed but it is likely, as even ULA’s CEO has hinted towards the company’s interest.

After a one day delay to fix a technical issue, Blue Origin successfully launched its NS-24 mission Tuesday morning. This marked the company’s first flight in over 15 months after NS-23 suffered an anomaly mid-flight.

After an abnormal lull in SpaceX launches last week due to weather and technical delays, that could change this week with a handful of Falcon 9 missions before the Christmas weekend. Firefly is back with another launch of its Alpha rocket this week, following the success of its VICTUS NOX mission in September.

With a post on social media, Blue Origin announced its return to flight for the New Shepard rocket. Flying science equipment and postcards from its charity Club for the Future, launch is set for no earlier than December 18.

Spotted up above in a fly over, the first potential flight hardware of Blue Origin‘s New Glenn rocket might have just been seen near the company’s Florida rocket factory. The hardware appears to be a part of New Glenn’s first stage, sporting a clean coat of paint.

A NASA official’s notes during an Advisory Council meeting shares that Blue Origin‘s first New Glenn launch could come no earlier than August 2024. NASA expects its ESCAPADE mission to be on top of that rocket, but is less confident in the launch date.

According to Ars Technica, three companies are in the running to purchase United Launch Alliance from its parent companies. One of the companies interested in buying the company is Blue Origin, owned by Jeff Bezos and a major partner of ULA.

Blue Origin Friday unveiled its Mk1 version of its Blue Moon lander that holds a contract with NASA for crewed Artemis missions. Mk1 is capable of delivering three-metric tons of cargo to anywhere on the lunar surface. However, it is only cable of landing cargo and science payloads, and is not reusable.

On Wednesday the FAA announced it has closed the mishap investigation it oversaw of Blue Origin’s failed NS-23 mission that took place one year ago. With the investigation now finished, Blue Origin plans to return to flight “soon.”

Jeff Bezos announced to his space company Monday that Bob Smith, the six year CEO of Blue Origin, will be replaced by former Amazon executive Dave Limp. Limp’s first day at Blue will be December 4 while Smith will stay on to help with the transition until January 2.