Photo: Blue Origin
As soon as the New Glenn rocket got its official targeted launch date, Blue Origin has gone to work to find the customers that would entrust it with their orbital deployment needs. And the search didn’t last long.
Canadian satellite communications company Telesat will be among the first to have its equipment delivered to orbit by Blue Origin, as it plans to expand its LEO constellation of communications satellites.
The contract between Blue Origin and Telesat was signed in the presence of Jeff Bezos, the founder of the company, and it is the first major step the company is taking into a territory owned until recently mostly by SpaceX.
“We are excited to be partnering with this industry leader on their disruptive satellite network architecture,” said in a statement Blue Origin’s CEO Bob Smith.
“New Glenn’s 7-meter fairing, with its huge mass and volume capabilities, is a perfect match for Telesat’s constellation plans while reducing launch costs per satellite.”
The launch of the first New Glenn rocket will not take place before 2021. When it is fired up, it will become the rocket with the "most capable upper stage in the market," as its builder says.
The rocket developed by Jeff Bezos' company is supposed to have double the available volume in today’s rockets. New Glenn has been designed in such a way as to be launched for about 25 times before being retired, much longer than other existing rockets.
Named after the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth, John Glenn, the rocket is using in-house built BE-3U engines to get going. These engines are the first new liquid hydrogen-fueled rocket engines to be developed for production in America in more than ten years.
For now, Blue Origin is conducting test flights with another rocket, New Shepard, but is yet to place an object in orbit.
The contract between Blue Origin and Telesat was signed in the presence of Jeff Bezos, the founder of the company, and it is the first major step the company is taking into a territory owned until recently mostly by SpaceX.
“We are excited to be partnering with this industry leader on their disruptive satellite network architecture,” said in a statement Blue Origin’s CEO Bob Smith.
“New Glenn’s 7-meter fairing, with its huge mass and volume capabilities, is a perfect match for Telesat’s constellation plans while reducing launch costs per satellite.”
The launch of the first New Glenn rocket will not take place before 2021. When it is fired up, it will become the rocket with the "most capable upper stage in the market," as its builder says.
The rocket developed by Jeff Bezos' company is supposed to have double the available volume in today’s rockets. New Glenn has been designed in such a way as to be launched for about 25 times before being retired, much longer than other existing rockets.
Named after the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth, John Glenn, the rocket is using in-house built BE-3U engines to get going. These engines are the first new liquid hydrogen-fueled rocket engines to be developed for production in America in more than ten years.
For now, Blue Origin is conducting test flights with another rocket, New Shepard, but is yet to place an object in orbit.
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