Blue Origin has made major investments and upgrades to facilities at the Kennedy Space Center site 36. Blue Origin is clearly preparing for major New Glenn reusable rocket launches.
The launch site and reusable rocket refurbishment facilities are getting prepared for a major rocket testing and launching program.
In 2018, Jeff Bezos started increased the staff of his rocket company Blue Origin to 3000 people over the next two or three years. Blue Origin staff was at 1500 people in 2018. SpaceX has 6000 people. Blue Origin has not yet reached orbit with any rocket and is developing the New Glenn reusable heavy launch rocket. New Glenn’s first-stage booster will be reusable like the SpaceX Falcon 9. Blue Origin has said there will be test flights in 2020 or 2021. The New Glenn capabilities will be close to the SpaceX Falcon Heavy.
Blue Origin is finalizing details on New Glenn’s design and are building model components that must be put through extreme testing.
French satellite firm Eutelsat SA is the first New Glenn customer.
Blue Origin released animations a few months ago of their proposed New Glenn rocket which will use seven BE-4 rockets for the first stage and will have two BE-3 engines for the second stage.
The New Glenn Rocket and the BE-4 engine are getting substantial funding from the US government.
SpaceX Continues to Make Rapid Progress with Starship and Ground Facility Construction
Droid Junkyard, Tatooine pic.twitter.com/yACFR9y04P
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 17, 2019
SOURCES- Youtube What About it, SpaceX, Blue Origin
Written By Brian Wang, Nextbigfuture.com
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.