The
secretive doings of the Blue Origin rocket team have become less guarded thanks
to a first-hand account from the group's deep-pocketed backer: Jeff Bezos of
Amazon.com fame and fortune.
The quest
of Blue
Origin rocketeers is to create a passenger-carrying suborbital rocket,
dubbed the New Shepard.
For the
first time, details
of the team's first development flight in the New Shepard step-by-step
project have been made available [launch
video]. That test took place nearly
two months ago, on the morning of November 13, 2006 - from their
privately-owned West Texas
space launch site in Culberson County, Texas [map].
Step by
step
"We
launched and landed Goddard - a first development vehicle in the New Shepard
program," Bezos noted Jan. 2 on the Blue Origin website. "The launch was both
useful and fun. Many friends and family came to watch the launch and support
the team," he said.
The Goddard
vertical takeoff and landing rocket reached a maximum altitude of roughly 285
feet (87 meters) on its first development flight [image].
The rocket lifted off and landed upon the same pad on a set of legs. The
Goddard test hop was delayed a few days due to gusting winds in the area.
"We're
working, patiently and step-by-step, to lower the cost of spaceflight so that
many people can afford to go...and so that we humans can better continue
exploring the solar system," Bezos reported. "Accomplishing this mission will
take a long time, and we're working on it methodically. We believe in
incremental improvement and in keeping investments at a pace that's
sustainable."
Bezos
explained that "slow and steady" is the way to achieve results.
That
philosophy can be seen on the Goddard test rocket itself, imbued with the
words: "Gradatim Ferociter" - Latin for step-by-step, by degrees and fiercely
doing so with spirit.
"We do not
kid ourselves into thinking this will get easier as we go along. Smaller, more
frequent steps drive a faster rate of learning, help us maintain focus, and
give each of us an opportunity to see our latest work fly sooner," Bezos said.
Reaction to
the Bezos account of the Blue Origin success was provided to SPACE.com
in a statement from Patti Grace Smith, the Federal Aviation Administration's
(FAA) Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation (AST) in
Washington, D.C.
"Jeff Bezos
and the Blue Origin team are on the cutting edge of the entrepreneurial world
of private human spaceflight," Smith explained. "The FAA was pleased to approve
and award the first-ever experimental permit to Blue Origin last September so
they could begin vehicle testing."
Smith said
that at the start of the New Year, "Blue Origin is taking its already excellent
effort to another level. This is a hard working, gifted, safety conscious team
and their development approach underscores the professionalism that
characterizes the world of private space vehicle developers throughout the
industry."
Technological
tip-off?
No
additional details from Blue Origin were immediately available on follow-on
flights of the Goddard, or subsequent vehicles.
However, a tip-off
as to things to come was voiced by Bezos in his soliciting of new company
hires.
"We are
particularly looking for experienced propulsion engineers and experienced
turbomachinery engineers, as well as a senior leader to head our turbopump
group. Folks with turbopump or propulsion experience on large, modern,
cryogenic engines such as the RS-68 are of particular interest," Bezos explained.
The RS-68
is the largest liquid oxygen-liquid hydrogen booster in existence, capable of
producing 650,000 pounds of thrust at sea level. It was built by Pratt &
Whitney Rocketdyne for Boeing's Delta 4
rocket.
Another
high priority, Bezos continued, is for an experienced leader for our structures
team. "Structures experience on large, modern vehicles such as Delta IV or
Atlas V is of particular interest," he added.
That
interest in "large, modern, cryogenic engines" is a clue according to SPACE.com
sources.
Cold
facts: cryogenic speculation
Blue Origin
has
reported they are using hydrogen peroxide in the present vehicle - a
monopropellant that's easy to start with, but does not yield great performance.
But using hydrogen peroxide is clearly sufficient for an early prototype
vehicle that is only flying up a few thousand feet.
Hydrogen
peroxide is probably also easier to throttle - a key for up and down,
legged-landing operations.
Speculation
suggests that it is likely that Blue Origin rocketeers will have to transition
to a bi-propellant combination in future vehicles. That will give them more
performance, with hydrogen peroxide as the oxidizer and most likely some kind
of refined kerosene as the fuel.
But neither
propellant is a cryogenic.
The Bezos
spotlighting of super-cold cryogenic engine technology involves a subset of
requirements that are very distinct from those of non-cryogenic engines.
One theory
is that Blue Origin might be reevaluating the decision to use hydrogen peroxide
instead of liquid oxygen as the oxidizer. Switching to liquid oxygen would
improve performance and have certain implications for ground operations.
New
Shepard stats
Last year,
Blue Origin turned in a draft environmental
assessment (EA) for their West Texas launch site to the FAA's Commercial
Space Transportation office.
In that
document, the rocket group said the strategy is to build the New Shepard
suborbital vehicle incrementally, starting with low-altitude tests, progressing
to higher-altitude testing, and culminating with commercial flights. Early
testing would use prototype vehicles that are smaller and/or less capable than
the proposed final design.
Each new
trial product would fly to higher altitudes and/or demonstrate additional
subsystems than the previous prototype. Eventually, Blue Origin proposes to
perform multiple flight tests of the actual operational New Shepard Reusable
Launch Vehicle (RLV) system carrying Blue Origin personnel before commencing
commercial operation.
As detailed
in the EA, the New Shepard RLV system would be comprised of a propulsion module
and a crew capsule capable of carrying three or more space flight participants
on roundtrip treks from the ground to the edge of space. The crew capsule is
perched on top of the propulsion module. The stacked vehicle would have a roughly
nose cone shape with a base diameter of approximately 22 feet (7 meters) and a
height of approximately 50 feet (15 meters).
Flight
plan
Blue Origin
explained in last year's EA that ten or fewer flight tests could be conducted
in 2006, each to an altitude of approximately 2,000 feet (610 meters) for less
than one minute.
In the
2007-2009 time period there would be continued flight testing of prototype
vehicles with incrementally increasing capability. During these years, Blue
Origin proposed to gradually expand the operational envelope of its vehicles,
conducting 25 or fewer launches per year.
A wide
range of tests were noted in the EA, ranging in altitude from under 2,000 feet
(610 meters) to greater than 325,000 feet (99,060 meters), lasting one minute
or less to over 10 minutes. Development tests of the crew capsule abort system
would be conducted during this time frame.
In the 2010
and beyond slot, according to the EA, commercial operations could commence with
the operational New Shepard vehicle. The flight rate would depend on market
demand, but Blue Origin explained that they anticipated rates up to
approximately 52 launches per year of the New Shepard RLV.
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