Blue Origin has released an image showing the Jacklyn barge it owns. It will be involved during the debut launch of the New Glenn heavy rocket.
The New Glenn rocket has been under development by Blue Origin since 2012. It has a two-stage design. Its height is 98 meters and its diameter is 7 meters. The rocket will be able to launch up to 45 tons of cargo into low orbit and up to 13.6 tons of cargo into geostationary orbit.
New Glenn’s first stage is powered by seven BE-4 engines running on a methane-oxygen mixture. It is reusable and, after separation, will land vertically. A barge in the ocean will be used as a landing site.
Initially, the company planned to use a modified cargo spacecraft for this purpose. But then Blue Origin changed its plans and ordered the construction of a specialized barge. It was named Jacklyn, after the mother of company owner Jeff Bezos. The vessel is 115.9 meters long and 45.72 meters wide. The barge left the French port where it was tested a few weeks ago. It will soon reach the coast of Florida.
Blue Origin has not previously disclosed whether it will attempt to return the New Glenn first stage during its debut launch. The publication of the image of the barge clearly indicates that the company is preparing for this operation.
New Glenn is currently scheduled to launch on October 13. The rocket will have to send to Mars a pair of EscaPADE probes created by Rocket Lab. They are designed to study the Red Planet’s magnetosphere and atmosphere and how they interact with the solar wind.
Since the date of the mission to Mars is limited by a very narrow ballistic window, any technical problems during the rocket’s preparation for launch would cause the mission to be delayed by two years. But for now, Blue Origin is on schedule. For example, engineers have recently completed the preparation of the first stage of the rocket and docked it with the connecting ring.
Earlier we told you about Blue Origin’s plans to install a 100-meter streetlight on the Moon.
