New Glenn's Second Stage: The Reuse Debate Reignites as Blue Origin Seeks a Solution to its Costly Upper Stages
Blue Origin, the private aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos, has been grappling with an internal debate over the reuse of its New Glenn rocket's second stage (GS2) for years. The economics of flying it have been a contentious issue, pitting those who believe in reusing GS2 against those who advocate for cutting costs by reducing manufacturing and materials used.
The debate, which dates back to at least 2010 when the heavy lift rocket was first conceptualized, has waxed and waned over the years. In recent times, Blue Origin had abandoned a project to develop a reusable stainless-steel upper stage, known as "Project Jarvis." However, with the company's focus on reducing costs and increasing efficiency, the debate is back in full swing.
A new job posting by Blue Origin suggests that the tide may be shifting towards reusing GS2. The company is seeking a director of "Reusable Upper Stage Development" to work on incrementally developing a reusable upper stage. The salary range for the position is up to $284,430.30.
New Glenn's second stage has proven to be an expensive proposition. According to sources, manufacturing a first stage costs over $100 million, while building an upper stage costs more than $50 million. While Blue Origin plans to reuse its first stages by launching them on multiple flights, flying super-expensive upper stages is no way to build a sustainable launch business.
The pressure on Blue Origin to find a pathway to reuse is high, with the planned upgrade to New Glenn's 9×4 version expected to use four BE-3U engines and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The company has the capacity to manufacture dozens of second stages per year, but reducing costs will be crucial in making its launch business sustainable.
The challenge lies in reusing upper stages of rockets, which is still an unknown quantity. SpaceX is experimenting with thermal protection for its Starship vehicle's return from orbital velocities, and there will be a performance hit for propellant and landing gear mass. The new director of upper stage development has their work cut out for them.
As Blue Origin continues to navigate this complex issue, one thing is clear: the reuse debate will only continue to intensify until a solution is found.
Blue Origin, the private aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos, has been grappling with an internal debate over the reuse of its New Glenn rocket's second stage (GS2) for years. The economics of flying it have been a contentious issue, pitting those who believe in reusing GS2 against those who advocate for cutting costs by reducing manufacturing and materials used.
The debate, which dates back to at least 2010 when the heavy lift rocket was first conceptualized, has waxed and waned over the years. In recent times, Blue Origin had abandoned a project to develop a reusable stainless-steel upper stage, known as "Project Jarvis." However, with the company's focus on reducing costs and increasing efficiency, the debate is back in full swing.
A new job posting by Blue Origin suggests that the tide may be shifting towards reusing GS2. The company is seeking a director of "Reusable Upper Stage Development" to work on incrementally developing a reusable upper stage. The salary range for the position is up to $284,430.30.
New Glenn's second stage has proven to be an expensive proposition. According to sources, manufacturing a first stage costs over $100 million, while building an upper stage costs more than $50 million. While Blue Origin plans to reuse its first stages by launching them on multiple flights, flying super-expensive upper stages is no way to build a sustainable launch business.
The pressure on Blue Origin to find a pathway to reuse is high, with the planned upgrade to New Glenn's 9×4 version expected to use four BE-3U engines and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The company has the capacity to manufacture dozens of second stages per year, but reducing costs will be crucial in making its launch business sustainable.
The challenge lies in reusing upper stages of rockets, which is still an unknown quantity. SpaceX is experimenting with thermal protection for its Starship vehicle's return from orbital velocities, and there will be a performance hit for propellant and landing gear mass. The new director of upper stage development has their work cut out for them.
As Blue Origin continues to navigate this complex issue, one thing is clear: the reuse debate will only continue to intensify until a solution is found.
. I wonder if we're putting too much pressure on ourselves to find solutions to reduce costs, when the real question is what's the point of space travel in the first place? Is it just about saving money or can we justify the cost with the potential benefits for humanity?
. The debate over reusable upper stages is just a symptom of a larger issue: our obsession with progress and innovation.
It's gonna be some fancy tech solution that costs more money than they expect, and then what? 
They'll still have to figure out how to make those reusable upper stages actually reliable. SpaceX is working on some similar tech with Starship, but they've got the added pressure of actually making a spaceship that can survive orbital velocities without exploding 
Either way, I'm just waiting for Blue Origin to throw a ton of money at this problem and then wonder why their business model still isn't profitable 
I mean, think about how much money Blue Origin could save by reusing something instead of manufacturing a new one from scratch 
. I'm not sure if I'm right or wrong, but I do know that this is a super complicated problem and Blue Origin needs to figure it out soon 
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. SpaceX is already experimenting with thermal protection for Starship and we all know that's a tough one 
. I'm rooting for Blue Origin tho! They need this win (or at least a solid solution) ASAP 
. Can't wait to see what they come up with 
this is getting outta hand! Blue Origin's second stage costs over $100m and they're still debating if it's worth reusing? They gotta make a move, ASAP 
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they need to figure it out ASAP or else they'll be stuck in neutral forever 
... it's just not happening overnight. I mean, I get why Blue Origin wants to cut costs and increase efficiency, but reusing these super-expensive stages? That's like playing a game of Russian roulette with billion-dollar launches 
. If they can't figure out how to make it work, they'll be stuck in this expensive cycle forever. And let's be real, SpaceX is already ahead of the game with their Starship thing... maybe Blue Origin should just take a page from their book 
. Can't wait to see how it all plays out 
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. Nevertheless, the challenge ahead is substantial, and it will require considerable investment in research and development to unlock the potential benefits of reusing upper stages