Blue Origin spent November 5 announcing hardware for New Glenn's future, while reports of a memo pushed the rocket's next flight further out.
Space.com reports that the company has developed a third stage for New Glenn, called GS3, and is working on a new first-stage engine called Northstar. Engadget, citing an internal memo from CEO Dave Limp that the Financial Times first reported, says the next launch is now not expected until January 2027. Xarmo couldn't check Blue Origin's own posts or the memo directly, so the details below are as reported by those two outlets, and the January date rests on one reporting chain: the Financial Times, relayed by Engadget.
What a third stage does
New Glenn is a two-stage rocket today. Space.com says the first stage, which is reusable, uses seven BE-4 engines, and the second stage uses two BE-3Us. In that standard configuration it stands 98 metres (322 feet) tall and can carry 13 metric tons to geostationary transfer orbit and 45 metric tons to low Earth orbit.
A third stage adds another engine burn after the second stage has finished. That matters for high-energy destinations, where a spacecraft would otherwise have to finish the climb on its own. Blue Origin told readers of its blog that GS3 "enables direct deployment of satellite constellations to GEO" and supports heavy-lift science and exploration missions to the moon and deep space, according to Space.com.
The practical example is the moon. Space.com quotes the company saying that delivering significant payload mass directly to trans-lunar injection gives "faster transit times while preserving propellant for on-orbit operations." In plain terms, a payload that gets a stronger push from the rocket has more of its own fuel left when it arrives.
GS3 uses one BE-7 engine, which Space.com says Blue Origin developed for its Blue Moon spacecraft. Blue Moon landing missions won't need GS3-equipped rockets, the company says, but a government customer it did not name has booked a GS3 mission to cislunar space, with launch targeted for 2028.
What Northstar changes
Northstar is aimed at the first stage. Like the BE-4, it burns liquid oxygen and liquid methane, according to Space.com. Blue Origin's stated comparison with the BE-4 is 30% less mass, 50% fewer parts and thrust rising from 640,000 to 715,000 pounds-force, with assembly possible in less than a day.
Those are company figures for an engine that hasn't flown. Blue Origin says it went from program approval to development testing in 11 months, and Space.com notes that the update gave no date for a first flight.
The rocket still has to fly again
All of this follows a year with two setbacks. New Glenn has flown three times, always in the standard configuration. Space.com reports that the April 19 flight put AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 satellite into the wrong orbit, and the spacecraft was lost. On May 28, the rocket exploded on the pad during a routine engine test at Cape Canaveral.
Space.com's report still described the fourth flight as expected late this year. Engadget's report, published later the same day, says the memo moves that to January 2027. According to Engadget, the memo says the launch pad's Vehicle Access Tower has been repaired and restacked and the launch bridge restored, and Limp blamed weather for slower repairs. "In just six months, Team Blue has accomplished what many thought would take years," Limp wrote, as quoted by Engadget.
The delay matters beyond one launch. Engadget notes that New Glenn is also due to carry equipment for Amazon's Leo satellite broadband service.
Cole's take: A third stage and a simpler engine are both sensible engineering answers to how New Glenn should grow. Neither changes the near-term question, which is whether the pad and the two-stage rocket are ready in January.
Reporting notes
