EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Blue Origin is scheduled to launch its second human-rated vehicle on Monday, Oct. 7, from its West Texas launch site.
Blue Origin’s latest New Shepard flight, NS-27, will debut the company’s next-generation human-rated space vehicle.
The launch window for the “uncrewed verification flight” opens at 7 a.m. Mountain time on Monday.
The launch will take place from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One near Van Horn.
The webcast will begin 15 minutes before liftoff. You can access the webcast by clicking here.
“The new crew capsule is named RSS Kármán line. The vehicle features technology upgrades to improve the vehicle’s performance and reusability, an updated livery, and accommodations for payloads on the booster. New Shepard remains one of the most sustainable rockets ever to fly to space. Nearly 99% of New Shepard’s dry mass is reused, including the booster, capsule, engine, landing gear, and parachutes,” Blue Origin said in a news release.
NS-27 will fly 12 payloads — five on the booster and seven inside the crew capsules.
“Payloads include new navigation systems developed for New Shepard and New Glenn; two different LIDAR sensors for the Lunar Permanence program; ultra-wideband proximity operations sensors flying as part of a NASA TechFlights grant with Blue Origin’s Space Systems Development group; and a commercial payload that is a reproduction of black monoliths from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey.’ The monoliths are flying on behalf of Spacemanic for a special edition printed by Croatian publisher Amaranthine Books,” Blue Origin said.
The mission will also carry thousands of student-designed postcards for the Club for the Future, Blue Origin’s STEAM-focused nonprofit whose mission is to inspire future generations to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math, Blue Origin said.
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