POT hopes to send two space probes to Mars on first flight of new rocket New Glenn from Blue Origin, a space company founded by Jeff Bezos. The US space agency mission will launch in 2024. Of course: if Blue Origin manages to finish the ship on time.
NASA selects Blue Origin to launch mission in February Escape, Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers — which is summarized in the acronym ESCAPADE—. This is a pair of small satellites with which he hopes study the interaction of the solar wind with the magnetosphere of Mars. They were originally scheduled to launch as part of the Psyche mission in August 2022, but it was suspended due to problems with the required trajectory.
It might be worth the risk. ESCAPADE is a mission Smallsat: These are projects that typically send lighter, smaller satellites that are also much cheaper to build than traditional ones. And the approximate budget of the plan with Blue Origin is about $79 millionThat’s far lower than any NASA mission has ever gone to Mars.
Bradley Smith, director of NASA’s launch services, confirmed that the mission to Mars will be “probably the first New Glenn release”. During a meeting of the NASA Human Exploration and Exploitation Advisory Council committee, Smith He acknowledged that this is Blue Origin’s “incredibly ambitious” plan.
Risk of New Glenn Construction Delay
“There is certainly some schedule risk associated with New Glenn arriving on the platform,” Smith said during the meeting, according to the report. SpaceNews. Uncertainty is acceptable, formally speaking. NASA characterizes ESCAPADE as a “Class D” mission, which implies greater tolerance for unexpected events.
“We are willing to take some risk by choosing a pricing and mission assurance model that reflects that risk.”” Smith explained. And on top of that, Blue Origin is already several years behind the original schedule for its New Glenn.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ company has not provided further details about the possible first launch. But Jarrett Jones, senior vice president of New Glenn at Blue Origin, said in World Satellite Business Week in September that they were planning “multiple” New Glenn releases in 2024.
In March, NASA announced that ESCAPADE was scheduled to launch in August 2024. thought.
If Blue Origin doesn’t comply, the same thing could happen in 2022 and the probes would be delayed. Mars launch windows typically occur every 26 months. If ESCAPADE doesn’t fly in 2024, The next opportunity may not come until the end of 2026.
Blue Origin says it will arrive on time. “This will be one of the first missions to New Glenn, and we will be ready,” Blue Origin chief executive Ariana Cornell said last March.
Blue Origin and NASA Alliance
The project is developing against the backdrop of a change in Blue Origin leadership. Bob Smith, who led the company for six years, announced in September that he would leave the company next month. He will replace him in office Dave Limformer head of services and devices at Amazon.
Blue Origin also has another key NASA project. In May, the space agency announced that Bezos’ company would be responsible for developing the Artemis V lunar lander, a mission planned for 2029, four years after the US space agency resumes manned missions to the Moon.
In addition to design and engineering work, the contract includes an unmanned demonstration mission to the lunar surface. The total contract value is $3.4 billion.
Source: Hiper Textual
