|
Blue Origin
Blue Origin Enterprises, L.P. is an American space technology company headquartered in Kent, Washington. The company operates the suborbital New Shepard rocket and the heavy-lift New Glenn rocket. In addition to producing engines for its own rockets, Blue Origin supplies engines for other vehicles, including United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur. It is also working on the Blue Moon (spacecraft), Blue Moon human lunar lander for NASA's Artemis program, the Blue Ring spacecraft platform, and the Orbital Reef space station in partnership with other organizations. Founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin initially operated with a stealth startup, very low profile, funded by Bezos's private investments. In 2015, the company achieved a significant milestone with the first uncrewed launch and landing of the New Shepard and announced plans for New Glenn. In 2021, New Shepard completed its first crewed mission with Bezos himself on board, crossing the Kármán line, the conventiona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Shepard
New Shepard is a Reusable launch vehicle, fully reusable Sub-orbital spaceflight, sub-orbital launch vehicle developed for space tourism by Blue Origin. The vehicle is named after Alan Shepard, who became the List of space travelers by nationality, first American to travel into space and the Apollo 14, fifth person to walk on the Moon. The vehicle is capable of VTVL, vertical takeoff and landings. Additionally, it is also capable of carrying humans and customer payloads into a Sub-orbital spaceflight, sub-orbital trajectory. New Shepard consists of a Launch vehicle, launch rocket and a crew capsule. The capsule can be configured to house up to six passengers, cargo, or a combination of both. The launch rocket is powered by one BE-3, BE-3PM engine, which sends the capsule above the Kármán line, where passengers and cargo can experience a few minutes of weightlessness before the capsule returns to Earth. The launch vehicle is designed to be fully reusable, with the capsule ret ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BE-4
The BE-4 (Blue Engine 4) is a liquid rocket engine developed by Blue Origin. It uses an oxygen-rich, liquefied natural gas, liquefied methane fuel and operates on a staged combustion cycle. The BE-4 produces of thrust at sea level. Development of the BE-4 was funded through a combination of private investment and public contracts. Although initially intended solely for use on Blue Origin's proprietary launch vehicle, the New Glenn, the engine was also selected in 2014 by United Launch Alliance (ULA) for its Vulcan Centaur rocket, which replaces the Atlas V. ULA finalized the BE-4 as its choice in September 2018. The BE-4 made its first flight aboard the Vulcan Centaur rocket on Peregrine Mission One, 8 January 2024. It later launched on New Glenn for the first time on 16 January 2025. History Following Aerojet, Aerojet's acquisition of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne in 2012, Blue Origin president Rob Meyerson saw an opportunity to fill a gap in the defense industrial base. Blue ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Privately Held Company
A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose Stock, shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in their respective listed markets. Instead, the Private equity, company's stock is offered, owned, traded or exchanged privately, also known as "over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter". Related terms are unlisted organisation, unquoted company and private equity. Private companies are often less well-known than their public company, publicly traded counterparts but still have major importance in the world's economy. For example, in 2008, the 441 list of largest private non-governmental companies by revenue, largest private companies in the United States accounted for $1.8 trillion in revenues and employed 6.2 million people, according to ''Forbes''. In general, all companies that are not owned by the government are classified as private enterprises. This definition encompasses both publ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kármán Line
The Kármán line (or von Kármán line ) is a conventional definition of the Outer space#Boundary, edge of space; it is widely but not universally accepted. The international record-keeping body Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, FAI (Fédération aéronautique internationale) defines the Kármán line at an altitude of above above mean sea level, mean sea level. While named after Theodore von Kármán, who calculated a theoretical limit of altitude for aeroplane flight at above Earth, the later established Kármán line is more general and has no distinct physical significance, in that there is a rather gradual difference between the characteristics of the atmosphere at the line, and experts disagree on defining a distinct boundary where the atmosphere ends and space begins. It lies well above the altitude reachable by conventional airplanes or high-altitude balloons, and is approximately where satellites, even on very eccentric trajectories, will Orbital decay, dec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wally Funk
Mary Wallace Funk (born February 1, 1939) is an American aviator, commercial astronaut, and goodwill ambassador. She was the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board, the first female civilian flight instructor at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and the first female Federal Aviation Administration inspector, as well as one of the Mercury 13. Funk became the oldest person to go to space on July 20, 2021, at age 82, flying on Blue Origin's New Shepard spacecraft during its suborbital flight, breaking a record held by John Glenn for 23 years. Her record would stand until later that year when William Shatner's flight took place on October 13; Shatner was age 90 at the time. Funk remains the oldest woman to have travelled into space. Funk is the last surviving member of the Mercury 13 group. She is also the only one of the thirteen to have traveled to space. Early life Funk was born in Las Vegas, New Mexico, in 1939 and grew up in Taos, New Mexi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Bezos
Marcus Jim Bezos ( ; born ) is an American space tourist and former advertising executive. He is the half-brother of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, with whom he flew to the edge of space as part of the Blue Origin NS-16 mission on July 20, 2021. Early life Mark was born to parents Jackie and Miguel Bezos and has an older sister, Christine. He is 3 years younger than his half-brother Jeff. Mark grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Houston, Texas; and Pensacola, Florida. He finished high school in Norway. He graduated from Texas Christian University in 1992. Career After graduation, he worked in the advertising industry, including positions at Saatchi & Saatchi and DDB. His own agency Bezos–Nathonson, founded in 1999, was bought by EastWest Creative in 2005. From 2006 to 2016, he was head of communications at the Robin Hood Foundation, earning $140,000 to $240,000 per year as Robin Hood's communications director, which is supported by his brother and other members ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Origin NS-16
Blue Origin NS-16 was a sub-orbital spaceflight mission operated by Blue Origin which flew on 20 July 2021. The mission was the sixteenth flight of the company's New Shepard integrated launch vehicle and spacecraft, and its first flight with humans aboard. It carried into space American billionaire and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark, pilot and Mercury 13 member Wally Funk, and Dutch student Oliver Daemen. The flight commenced from Blue Origin's Corn Ranch sub-orbital launch site in West Texas aboard the third flight of New Shepard booster NS4 and the spacecraft RSS ''First Step'', both having previously flown on NS-14 and NS-15 earlier in the year. Blue Origin NS-16 was the first human spaceflight from the U.S. state of Texas. Daemen, aged 18, and Funk, aged 82, became the youngest and oldest people to travel to space, respectively, until William Shatner took the record of oldest in space at age 90 on NS-18. The flight was approximately 10 minutes, and cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Three-stage-to-orbit
A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket ''stages'', each of which contains its own Rocket engine, engines and Rocket propellant, propellant. A ''tandem'' or ''serial'' stage is mounted on top of another stage; a ''parallel'' stage is attached alongside another stage. The result is effectively two or more rockets stacked on top of or attached next to each other. Two-stage rockets are quite common, but rockets with as many as five separate stages have been successfully launched. By jettisoning stages when they run out of propellant, the mass of the remaining rocket is decreased. Each successive stage can also be optimized for its specific operating conditions, such as decreased atmospheric pressure at higher altitudes. This ''staging'' allows the thrust of the remaining stages to Newton's First Law of Motion, more easily accelerate the rocket to its final velocity and height. In serial or tandem staging schemes, the first stage is at th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Two-stage-to-orbit
A two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) or two-stage rocket is a launch vehicle in which two distinct multistage rocket, stages provide propulsion consecutively in order to achieve orbital velocity. It is intermediate between a three-stage-to-orbit launcher and a hypothetical single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) launcher. At liftoff the first stage is responsible for accelerating the vehicle. At some point the second stage detaches from the first stage and continues to orbit under its own power. An advantage of such a system over single-stage-to-orbit is that most of the dry mass of the vehicle is not carried into orbit. This reduces the cost involved in reaching orbital velocity, as much of the structure and engine mass is ejected, and a larger percentage of the orbited mass is payload mass. An advantage over three or more stages is a reduction in complexity and fewer separation events, which reduces cost and risk of failure. Examples * Historical ** Cosmos-3M ** Delta IV Medium ** Falcon 1 ** ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heavy-lift Launch Vehicle
A heavy-lift launch vehicle (HLV) is an orbital launch vehicle capable of lifting payloads between (by NASA classification) or between (by Russian classification) into low Earth orbit (LEO).50t payloads" Heavy-lift launch vehicles often carry payloads into higher-energy orbits, such as geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) or heliocentric orbit (HCO). An HLV is between a medium-lift launch vehicle and a super heavy-lift launch vehicle. History and design Government The first heavy-lift launch vehicles in the 1960s included the US Saturn IB and the Soviet Proton. Saturn IB was designed to carry the Apollo spacecraft into orbit and had increased engine thrust and a redesigned second stage from its predecessor. Proton was originally designed to be a large intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Russia still operates variants of the Proton , although it is expected to be phased out in favor of the Angara A5. NASA introduced the Space Shuttle as the first partially reusab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Launch Vehicle
A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage rocket, but the term is more general and also encompasses vehicles like the Space Shuttle. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pad, supported by a missile launch control center, launch control center and systems such as vehicle assembly and fueling. Launch vehicles are engineered with advanced aerodynamics and technologies, which contribute to high operating costs. An orbital spaceflight, orbital launch vehicle must lift its payload at least to the boundary of space, approximately and accelerate it to a horizontal velocity of at least . Suborbital spaceflight, Suborbital vehicles launch their payloads to lower velocity or are launched at elevation angles greater than horizontal. Practical orbital launch vehicles use chemical prope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corn Ranch
Corn Ranch, commonly referred to as Launch Site One (LSO), is a spaceport owned and operated by Blue Origin which is located approximately north of the town of Van Horn, Texas, United States. The plot of land was purchased by Jeff Bezos in 2004. The company uses the spaceport for testing and launch services for its New Shepard rocket. The launch site has a sub-orbital launch pad and also has a number of rocket engine test stands. The engine test cells are at the site to support the hydrolox, methalox and storable propellant engines that are used. There are three test cells for testing the methalox BE-4 engine, two of which support full-thrust and full-duration burns, and one that supports short-duration, high-pressure preburner tests. The spaceport also includes a vehicle processing facility and an astronaut training facility. The company's first human spaceflight launched from Launch Site One (LS1) on July 20, 2021. The flight, dubbed NS-16, carried its founder Je ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
