Blue Origin Rocket Explodes And Implodes For Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos and his Blue Origin company have some catching up to do. The rocket company was contracted by NASA to build an orbital rocket, titled New Glenn, for the EscaPADE mission that is scheduled to launch in October. However, apparently, the team is facing some major setbacks in the development process, with an upper rocket portion failing and exploring during a recent stress test.
Under Pressure, Literally And Figuratively
The Blue Origin team has a tight window to get the New Glenn orbital rocket ready to launch since the EscaPADE mission is sending two spacecraft to Mars and is hoping to take advantage of Earth and Mars alignment this year. The planets won’t be this close for another two years, so the October deadline is an ideal time for the mission to start. However, the upper rocket failing during the stress test isn’t the only problem, as another portion of the rocket imploded after engineers failed to put the necessary pressure-release valves in place before the New Glenn was moved from a humid outdoor hangar to an air-conditioned environment.
Compounding Issues Complicate Upcoming Mission
Explosions and implosions are the last thing you want to see when launching a rocket, so Blue Origin will definitely need to get these kinks ironed out as soon as possible. But based on these setbacks, it seems highly unlikely that the rocket is going to be set for a full-on mission by October. Additionally, the New Glenn is apparently four years behind schedule, so clearly these issues have been compounding for a while.
Blue Origin’s Personnel Changes
Amidst all of this testing chaos, Blue Origin has also made major moves internally, as a new CEO, David Limp, was appointed in December. Limp himself has made some big changes to the company’s executives and the company continues to rapidly make new hires. Despite all this, a spokesperson for Blue Origin did say that the team is working on assembling the rocket and that it’s still on track to launch New Glenn this year.
Rocket Lab Going Into Hero Mode
Its possible missed launch for a NASA contract isn’t the only issue that Blue Origin has faced in recent years, as the company also had to shut down its New Shepard space tourism shuttle for over a year after an engine explosion occurred in September 2022. It remains to be seen if the space company can get through these obstacles and get it together in just a couple of months.
Rocket Lab, the company doing the building of the spacecraft, has said it’s going into “hero mode” to make the launch happen for what it’s worth, but a tight timeline is still a tight timeline.
May Have To Wait For The Next Mars Mission
Blue Origin designed the New Glenn as a spacecraft that would be capable of taking satellites and people into Earth’s orbit, making it a competitor of other major space companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The EscaPADE mission is a big first test for this rocket, and its ultimate goal is to get two spacecraft to Mars to study the big red planet’s magnetic field. It’s possible that Blue Origin will make the cut, but it seems like it’s going to be down to the wire.
Source: Bloomberg
