Blue Origin prepares (again) for historic launch of New Glenn - TWIRL #196

TWIRL logo in front of New Glenn

We were supposed to get a New Glenn and Starship launch last weeks but both of them got delayed until this week so they should be interesting to watch. SpaceX will also launch Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander to the moon as part of NASA's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program.

Sunday, 12 January

Who: Blue Origin
What: New Glenn
When: 06:00–09.45 UTC
Where: Florida, US
Why: This is the most notable mission this week, as it marks Blue Origin's first launch of the New Glenn rocket. The mission is called NG-1 and launches with two payloads. The first is called Blue Ring demonstrator, a satellite support system. The second is DS-1 flight system developed by Blue Origin.

The first stage of the rocket, which is reusable, contains seven BE-4 engines, while the second stage has two BE-3U engines. The first stage of the rocket will land on the Jacklyn LPV1 sea-based platform.

NASA's EscaPADE mission was supposed to be a payload on this mission, but it has been delayed for a later New Glenn launch.

Monday, 13 January

Who: SpaceX
What: Falcon 9
When: 14:59–18:29 UTC
Where: Florida, US
Why: SpaceX will use a Falcon 9 to launch 23 Starlink satellites to a low Earth orbit, where they will provide internet for customers on Earth. 13 of these satellites are newer direct-to-cell satellites. After the launch, the first stage of the rocket will likely perform a landing. These satellites are Starlink Group 12-4.

Who: SpaceX
What: Starship
When: 22:00–23:38 UTC
Where: Texas, US
Why: This is the seventh test mission of the Starship rocket from SpaceX. Now that much progress has been made in the launches and landing, SpaceX thinks it's time to send 10 Starlink simulators to orbit on this rocket. These simulators will be a similar size and weight as real Starlink satellites. Interestingly, this mission will include a Raptor engine on the Super Heavy booster that was also used for the fifth test flight.

Tuesday, 14 January

Who: SpaceX
What: Falcon 9
When: 18:49 UTC
Where: Florida, US
Why: SpaceX will use this mission to launch the Transporter-12 rideshare mission to Sun-synchronous orbit. It will be carrying several smallsats including LEO Express 2 by Impulse Space and Ray from Inversion Space.

Wednesday, 15 January

Who: SpaceX
What: Falcon 9
When: 06:11 UTC
Where: Florida, US
Why: Using a Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX will launch the Blue Ghost lander to the moon for Firefly Aerospace under the auspices of the NASA CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program. Numerous payloads will be transported to the lunar surface.

Saturday, 18 January

Who: SpaceX
What: Falcon 9
When: 03:18 UTC
Where: California, US
Why: SpaceX will launch Starlink Group 11-8 to a low Earth orbit. It consists of 22 satellites that will provide internet to customers on Earth. The first stage of the rocket will also perform a landing.

Recap

The first launch we got this week was a Falcon 9 from SpaceX carrying Starlink Group 6-71 to space. The first stage of the rocket performed a successful landing.

Next we got another Falcon 9 this time carrying Starlink Group 12-11. After the launch, the first stage of the rocket was landed.

The third mission was another Falcon 9 but this time it was carrying the secretive NROL-153 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. After launching this classified payload, the first stage of the Falcon 9 performed a landing.