Blue Origin is preparing to launch its NS-27 mission with the RSS Kármán Line, its new crew capsule, on Monday at 9 a.m. ET. It will be the first launch of the capsule, which the company says in its announcement will feature improved performance and reusability as well as “an updated paint job and accommodations for payloads on the booster.”
The flight will carry two LIDAR sensors into space that will be used for Blue Origin's Lunar Permanence program to develop lunar landers. These are among the 12 payloads that also contain ultra-wideband proximity sensors, a replica of the black monoliths of 2001: A Space Odysseyand student postcards sent to the nonprofit organization Club for the Future. Blue Origin will stream the launch on its website 15 minutes before launch.
NS-27's next flight comes as Blue Origin works toward the goal of becoming a true SpaceX competitor. The company's CEO, Dave Limp, Amazon's former hardware chief who took over late last year, said in an interview with that the company “needs to be able to build a lot” to become “a world-class “To become a manufacturer”. CNBC.
“We would like that [be delivering] about one engine per week by the end of the year. I'm not sure if we'll make it exactly a week, but it will be less than 10 days… [and] We have to be faster by the end of 2025,” said Limp.
Blue Origin plans to launch New Glenn, its large reusable booster that recently completed its first second-stage hot-fire test, for the first time in November. Blue Origin says the rocket can carry 45,000 kilograms (more than 99,000 pounds) into low Earth orbit CNBC Notes is about twice as much as SpaceX's Falcon 9. The company also hopes to land the booster on its first flight.