Blue Origin Unveils New Spacecraft And New Glenn Upgrades – NASASpaceFlight.Com

Fresh off its highly successful NG-2 flight, which launched the ESCAPADE Mars probes and featured a successful booster landing, Blue Origin unveiled the Blue Moon Mk1 robotic lander due to fly in 2026, possibly on New Glenn’s next flight. In addition, the company announced its future New Glenn 9×4 rocket while giving the current New Glenn the 7×2 designation.

What’s more, Blue Origin also shared details about its Blue Ring tug and satellite bus, as well as revealing a new deployable aerobrake to enable future Mars missions.


Since its historic landing on the NG-2 mission, Glenn Stage 1 (GS1) booster Never Tell Me The Odds has made it back to the Launch Complex 36’s (LC-36) integration hangar.

Engineers are processing the booster and refurbishing it for its next flight. It is not currently publicly known whether Never Tell Me The Odds or a newer booster will fly the upcoming NG-3 mission.
The eight-meter-tall Blue Moon Mk1, massing 21,350 kg and larger than the Apollo lunar module, is designed to carry roughly 3,000 kg to the lunar surface.

The first Mk1, MK1-SN001, will fly a demonstration mission and land near Shackleton Crater in the Moon’s south polar region. Shackleton Crater is thought to possibly contain water ice in permanently shadowed areas of the crater that do not receive sunlight, and have not received sunlight for over a billion years or more.

NASA’s Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS) will also fly on this mission to gather data on the effects of rocket exhaust on the lunar regolith. SCALPSS features four high-resolution cameras that will capture the BE-7’s plume during descent to the surface. For later missions, Blue Origin plans to offer lunar payload services to customers aboard MK1-SN002 and subsequent landers.

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