Last week, when Blue Origin beat rival SpaceX to the punch and became the first company to reuse a booster rocket, it marked what some media outlets called a next-generation “space race” between the two firms – one that both companies are doing their best to win.
On Monday, SpaceX announced that the latest version of its Falcon 9 rocket has been granted clearance from the US Air Force to transport high-grade military satellites into orbit, ensuring that the upgraded launcher can compete for national security contracts.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, taking off at Cape Canaveral on Dec. 21, 2015. (Credit: SpaceX)
According to Spaceflight Now, the new Falcon 9 features higher-thrust engines, larger fuel tanks and a super-chilled propellant mixture. It was certified by the Air Force’s California-based Space and Missile Systems Center commander, Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves on Monday, allowing the new 229-foot (70-meter) tall booster to participate in missions involving military probes.
The upgraded Falcon 9, which first launched back in December, uses nine Merlin 1D first stage engines that produce a combined 1.5 million force-pounds of thrust, or 0.2 million more than its predecessor. That upgrade, along with changes made to the propellant mixture, allows the rocket to carry 30 percent larger payloads than before.
New Shepard looking to launch with research payloads by year’s end
Not to be outdone, Blue Origin on Monday announced that, in the wake of two successful flights of its New Shepard suborbital vehicle in eight weeks, it would begin increasing the frequency of test flights in the future by reducing the time spent servicing the rocket between launches.
Rob Meyerson, president of the Jeff Bezos-owned aerospace firm, told Space News that the New Shepard was in good condition following its January 22 launch, and that while the firm had more data to review, all indications were that “the vehicle performed perfectly” during its voyage from a test site in West Texas to a peak altitude of 101.7 kilometers and back again.
The New Shepard used in the January 22 flight had previously been used in a similar flight last November, and Meyerson told Space News that Blue Origin planned to shorten the time between test flights in the future. The next flights will use the same vehicle that has already traveled to the edge of space twice, with some tweaks to the hardware and software as needed.
Meyerson also noted that “dozens” of additional tests flights are scheduled to be flown before the company would begin carrying actual passengers beyond the Karman line, which is the boundary line that officially separates Earth’s atmosphere from space. That timeframe is tentative, and may be moved up or pushed back depending on how well the flight test program goes, he added.
The company also said that it is hopeful that it will begin carrying research payloads before the end of 2016. Meyerson said that they are working alongside scientists from Purdue University, the University of Central Florida and Louisiana State University in an attempt to obtain initial “pathfinder” experiments for use on the New Shepard.
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Feature Image: Blue Origin’s New Shepard coming in for a landing. (Credit: Amazon)
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