I've watched Team Blue pour years into building the systems that make lunar permanence a reality. Today @NASA recognized that work with multiple Moon Base program awards. I couldn’t be prouder of this team.
New awards. New mission updates. More progress toward a Moon Base.
We're advancing commercial lunar deliveries, a nuclear-powered rover, launch and orbital transfer services, and infrastructure to support a sustained human presence on the Moon: nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-a…
We announced New Glenn’s third stage today (GS3). The team recently completed testing of what we expect will be the largest composite LH2 tank ever flown in space. The tank was pressurized (at cryo temps) above 100% of the Maximum Expected Operating Pressure (MEOP) for flight and cycled 10 times (totaling over 2.5 hours) and over 10 minutes at 150% MEOP. GS3 stands 37 feet tall and is housed in an interstage, preserving the full fairing volume for customer payloads.
Our new booster engine, Northstar, was built from the ground up by a scrappy team focused on weight, cost, manufacturability, and performance. More than 65% of the engine is additively manufactured using our in-house 3D printing capability. Northstar can be assembled in less than a day and produces 715,000 pounds of thrust.
Went off-roading yesterday. The four-million-pound launch bridge is being driven back into position today by self-propelled motorized transporters (SPMT). We placed dirt in the flame trench to provide a ramp for the SPMTs to gently set the bridge atop it.
Today our team lifted and installed New Glenn's second stage (GS2) at @NASAStennis. The vehicle was tandem lifted from its cradle using the Main Derrick Crane at the historic B-2 Test Stand to lift the forward end, while a mobile tailing crane simultaneously lifted the aft end. GS2 was shifted to a vertical orientation, lifted 218 feet above ground, and lowered into the B-2 test position. A great example of what Team Blue and our NASA partners can accomplish together. Final preparations for our first hotfire test are ongoing.
The team also made progress at LC-36B yesterday. Roughly 450 truckloads of concrete, lined up bumper-to-bumper and stretching nearly 3 miles up the coast, supported a 4,500-cubic-yard pour for the pile caps. Three more placements to go for a total of 15,000 cubic yards. This is the foundation for our New Glenn 9x4 pad.
Module 6 is back on the Vehicle Access Tower. The crane configuration for lifting and placing these modules is a delicate work of art. This CC 8800 heavy lift crane uses counterweight positioned behind the crane to significantly increase lifting performance.
Thank you, @GregAbbott_TX and the state of Texas, for being a true partner in our work. This expansion adds more than 2,000 high-skilled jobs to our Texas workforce, deepening our 20-year roots. Our road to space started in - and now continues through - the Lone Star State!
Big news, Texas! We're opening Constellation Park, a new 1.3-million-square-foot manufacturing complex and bringing 2,000 jobs to Hutto, TX, to support TeraWave and Quartz. The campus will house manufacturing for key Blue Origin subsystems, including solar arrays, avionics, telecommunications, and other satellite hardware.
Read more: bit.ly/3VqvxAL
We’re going vertical! The first module is placed on the vehicle access tower. We’ve added two floors and guard rails for access, along with cryo control skids and environmental control system piping and filter boxes. Five more modules to go as we work toward returning to flight this year.
A lot of hard work behind this. Couldn’t be prouder of the team.
Thanks for stopping by @NASAAdmin. The team has made incredible progress in just 10 weeks and we’re excited to get into testing.
Replying to @NASAStennis
@NASAStennis helped power America to the Moon during Apollo, and it has an important role to play as we return to stay.
We heard directly from the workforce and visited the historic B-Test Complex, where @blueorigin will test New Glenn’s upper stage through its agreement with NASA. Putting world-class American infrastructure to work with commercial partners is how we move faster, strengthen our industrial base, and stay ahead.
We also met with @USSOCOM leadership and watched Naval Special Warfare’s Special Boat Team 22 conduct an impressive hot extraction demonstration. Incredible capability and professionalism on display.
A great reminder of the extraordinary people and capabilities behind American leadership on Earth and beyond.
The next GS2 is loaded up and now preparing to head to @NASAStennis for vehicle hotfire testing, the first of our second stages to be tested at the historic B-2 stand. Proud to test at Stennis, where Mississippi has powered American spaceflight for decades. The Blue team and our @NASA partners have been hard at work preparing the stand for testing.
A big thank you to the @NASAArtemis III crew for your encouraging words and for taking the time to speak with Team Blue!
Welcome to Rocket Park, home of New Glenn and Lunar Permanence 🚀🌕
This week, we hosted the @NASAArtemis III crew — Astronauts Randy Bresnik (@AstroKomrade), Luca Parmitano (@astro_luca), Andre Douglas (@Astro_AndreD), Frank Rubio, and backup Bob Hines (@Astro_FarmerBob). The crew got an up-close look at where New Glenn and our lunar landers come to life, then headed to LC-36, where we will launch our MK2 Earth Orbit Rendezvous demonstration vehicle in support of the Artemis III mission.





















