We have been waiting for it for a long time, here it is finally ready to make its seven engines roar. Blue Origin's heavy launcher, aka the New Glenn, is about to cross the Karman Line for the first time, this symbolic boundary of 100 km altitude which separates us from space. Barring any setbacks, it will therefore be for this Friday, January 10 at 6 a.m. French time.
Advertising, your content continues below
“This is our first flight and we are rigorously prepared for it”declared Jarrett Jones, Senior Vice President of Blue Origin, before specifying: “No amount of ground testing or mission simulations replaces a firing with this type of rocket. It's time to fly. Whatever happens, we will learn, refine and apply this knowledge to our next launch.” Failure is therefore permitted since it will above all be a question of recovering as much data as possible.
Here you will find our latest detailed article on the New Glenn as well as its payload, called Blue Ring, a prototype space platform.
The launch of this “megaheavy” rocket is therefore scheduled for 6:00 a.m. Friday morning. We recommend the YouTube channel of the expert Techniques Spatiales to follow this event:
The next day, Saturday January 11 at 11 p.m., another Godzilla from space will make its 7th attempt. SpaceX's Starship IFT-7 is a new model, a Starship V2 called Block 2. The fins – or flaps – of the fairing (top of the rocket) now have a different orientation and position in order to reduce their exposure to heat during atmospheric reentry. This Block 2 of the Starship must be able to carry 25% more propellant.
A major first, this Starship will have a payload, namely replicas of Elon Musk's Starlink satellites, which it will simulate putting into orbit. Remember that NASA, particularly for the Artemis lunar program, expects a lot from Starship.
Here again, we recommend a link to follow this launch. Techniques Spatiales will still be there, but you could be tempted by Ufotinik:
