Blue Origin unveils heavy-lift capability for New Glenn with third stage

Launch vehicle will be able to support longer lunar operations and deliver satellites to geostationary orbit.
US rocketry firm Blue Origin is moving into heavy-lift capability with the introduction of a three-stage variant of its current two-stage New Glenn launch vehicle.

The development – designated GS3 – will enable the vehicle to carry out direct deployment of satellites to geostationary orbit as well as deep-space missions.

Blue Origin says the GS3 is already contracted for a government customer launch to cislunar space – the region between Earth and the Moon – in 2028.

The company points out that it does not need this additional stage to support its planned lunar landing mission.

But it states that the GS3 would be able to support “sustained operations” around the Moon.

Powered by a single Blue Origin BE-7 engine, GS3 will be housed in an interstage in order not to reduce the volume of the New Glenn’s payload fairing.

The company says it will be able to deliver “significant” payload directly to trans-lunar injection – the propulsive burn used to reach the Moon from Earth orbit – and speed up transit times while preserving propellant.

“Built on proven New Glenn hardware, GS3 expands performance without changing the customer payload experience,” says the company.

When used in conjunction with the in-development New Glenn 9×4 heavy launch vehicle, GS3 will allow delivery of a 14t payload to geostationary orbit and 20t to trans-lunar injection.

The corresponding capabilities for the existing 7×2 vehicle would respectively be 8t and 10t.

“GS3 was designed to meet the requirements of national security and other high-energy missions that require precise orbital insertion,” says Blue Origin.

The GS3’s composite liquid hydrogen tank will be the first such structure to be flown in space, the company claims.

Pressurisation tests have already shown the tank can withstand maximum expected operating pressure for longer than the duration of any GS3 mission.

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