No matter how much they say the opposite, space race It will always be a competition. The United States and the Soviet Union came first, aiming to be first in send people into space and to the moon. Later, government authorities realized that working together would be the best option, since successes should belong to all of humanity. But the struggle continues, and now it is private companies that are determined to achieve new achievements. Two billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezoswith his two companies, SpaceX and Blue Originare in a frantic competition to break records, which will ultimately benefit NASA. The US agency is looking for shuttles for its future missions, and Musk appears to be getting ahead of himself with his new big success New Glenn Bezos shows that competition is still active.
The rocket launched from Cape Canaveral without any problems, put the capsule into orbit and returned its reusable first stage to Earth. There was only one mishap, as the first phase was supposed to land on a barge in the Atlantic, but this did not happen. This it doesn’t matter for the success of the mission, so it was not a failure per se, although it needs to be perfected as it is an important factor in increasing the profitability of launches.
For now, Blue Origin is very satisfied as with this first test flight of New Glenn they have already achieved some milestones that even SpaceX has not achieved with their Starship. private space race served.
Jeff Bezos vs Elon Musk
At first it seemed that the race in private space would be focused on advances in the field space tourism. Millionaires become even more millionaires by sending millionaires into space. Both companies have achieved great success in this tongue twister. But both want to go further, so without hesitation they presented their projects at competitions in which NASA hire companies to get shuttles and ships for their missions.
Both Blue Origin and SpaceX have secured the majority of these contracts. But it seemed that Elon Musk’s company worked best. Crew Dragon capsules have already made several flights to the International Space Station, loaded with astronauts, supplies and food for those stationed there.
He has also already carried out several successful test flights of his starship. The shuttle was able to separate from the payload phase that would go into space and return to Earth for reuse, and was captured in flight by some robotic weapons designed specifically for this. This ingenious system will be part of many future NASA missions to the Moon and Mars. Plus, as if that weren’t enough, SpaceX won the contract to destroy the International Space Station when it comes time to decommission it.
Blue Origin’s competition is fierce. However, Jeff Bezos’ company, which has also won several NASA contracts, today demonstrated that its New Glenn is a credible North American company.
Successful test flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn
New Glenn, named after the first American in space, is a rocket ship. 98 meters consists of two phases. The first, reusable, is released shortly after launch and returns to Earth. Instead, the second is a platform designed to host satellites or launch them into orbit.
The goals of this first test flight They were as follows:
- New Glenn rocket launches from Cape Canaveral.
- After a few minutes, recover the first stage of the rocket, landing on a barge in the Atlantic.
- For 6 hours, keep the test satellite inside the second phase while it orbits the Earth.
- Keep the second phase, which is disposable, in a high and distant orbit to minimize space debris in the areas closest to Earth.
Blue Origin did check all of these purposes, with the exception of the second, which was actually considered the least suitable for a test flight. The important thing is that New Glenn was able to release a test capsule and revolve around the earth. Only with the latter has the company already achieved what SpaceX has not yet been able to do with its Starship.
It is logical that for the next attempts, the landing of the first stage must be perfected in order to reduce mission costs, as well as reduce energy costs and the release of space debris. After all, debris from these missions is a problem not only in space, but also on Earth. Recovering the rockets is important, so Blue Origin can be happy, but not claim a complete victory.
Source: Hiper Textual
