c/nasa · by burble@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 71d

NASA head urges new launcher for Blue Origin’s moon landers to meet Artemis mission deadlines

https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/06/04/nasa-head-urges-new-launcher-for-blue-origins-moon-landers-to-meet-artemis-mission-deadlines/

9 points · 4 comments · view on lemmy.world

4 Comments

threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 71d (3 replies)

And that "new launcher" would be... Falcon Heavy? Vulcan? Starship?

burble@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 71d (2 replies)

No idea. It's gotta be Falcon Heavy, if Mark 1 even fits in the fairing.

threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 70d (1 reply)

It doesn't:

The Blue Moon landers were tailored to fit within the seven-meter diameter fairing of a New Glenn rocket. The Falcon Heavy payload fairing has a diameter of 5.2 meters and although the company has developed a taller version, it has not revealed any wider options.

I wonder if FH could even fly with a 7-metre fairing, or whether the aerodynamics would be too wonky.

Additionally, SpaceX’s launch pads are not equipped to service a hydrogen-fueled lander like Blue Moon.

This sentence is why I wondered if Vulcan could be an option, since they already have hydrogen at the pad for Centaur. Would even the 6-SRB variant not pack enough oomph to yeet Mark 1?

burble@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 70d

Welllll Mk1 is only 3.1m diameter, so it should fit, but Mk2 definitely wouldn't. Getting some Mk1s up on Falcon Heavy to get flight heritage and land Viper would still be great.