blue origin
On Wednesday, Washington-based space company Blue Origin posted a job offer for a position titled “Blue Ring Senior Program Manager”. However, the post on the company’s Workday careers page was removed less than 24 hours later, possibly because it contained details of an advanced program that the company does not yet wish to discuss publicly. .
Asked about the short-lived post, a spokesperson for Blue Origin told Ars on Friday that “we are updating the job requirements for this position.”
For now, the job offer stay live on LinkedIn. Although the requirement is now listed as “no longer accepting applications”, the job details remain online. Curiously, the job posting states: “As a Program Manager, you will lead the development, manufacturing and operations of a multi-mission, multi-orbit platform.”
There are additional hints about the position in the job posting, including the following statement about how this job supports Blue Origin’s vision of millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth “Enabling this future requires frequent and affordable access to a variety of orbits, as well as the ability to access infrastructure and services in those orbits. There is a critical need for carpooling and accommodation solutions for small satellites for commercial and government purposes.
The significance of this is that this is one of the first times the company has publicly discussed its Blue Ring program, although perhaps inadvertently given the rapid removal of the offer. ‘job.
According to two sources, Blue Ring is one of the projects underway at Blue Origin as part of the company’s advanced development programs. A number of these initiatives aim to augment Blue Origin’s next New Glenn rocket, a heavy-lift vehicle that could debut in 2024. These programs include Project Jarvis, which Ars first disclosed in July 2021to develop a fully reusable upper stage for the launcher.
Blue Origin has been working on New Glenn for nearly a decade. During this time, founder Jeff Bezos watched the development of SpaceX’s Starship program and recognized that New Glenn needed to evolve to compete with a fully reusable Starship. This is the goal of the Jarvis project and other initiatives.
Although Blue Ring may not be as spectacular as a fully reusable second stage, it could nevertheless be an important element in making New Glenn a viable commercial vehicle not only for large government satellites, but also for small satellites. The Blue Ring project combines two basic functionalities: an EELV secondary payload adapter, or ESPA ring, and a space tug.
An ESPA ring is a structure mounted in the rocket’s payload area to support six or more smaller satellites, each weighing perhaps a few hundred kilograms or less. This ring supports these smaller satellites as secondary or carpool customers, with power and possibly even propulsion during the launch and deployment process.
Screenshot of the Blue Ring job posting “Senior Program Manager”.
Blue Origin is also looking to develop a space tug as part of its ESPA ring, allowing satellites to reach different orbits than the rocket’s main payload. These “orbital transfer vehicle” services are becoming more common. For example, Launcher’s SN1 Orbiter vehicle flew on SpaceX’s Transporter 6 rideshare mission earlier this week with eight different smallsat and Impulse Space customers announced this week that its first Orbital Transfer Vehicle will fly on a Falcon 9 rocket later this year.
Given that New Glenn will have a large 7 meter wide payload fairing and impressive propulsion capabilities, Blue Ring will likely be able to accommodate much larger satellites than these small Orbital Transfer Vehicles. However, given Blue Origin’s propensity for silence on the advanced development schedule, don’t expect to hear any more details about Blue Ring anytime soon.
0 Comments