Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin apparently used modular transportation to install the first stainless steel from Project Jarvis in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The photos of the prototype that surfaced show that the design is very similar to SpaceX’s super-heavy rocket booster.
The main aim of Project Jarvis is to make a fully reusable upper stage for the “New Glenn” rocket. Few sources claim that the project’s main goal is to reduce the cost of the New Glenn rocket. If Blue Origin wants to compete with Musk’s SpaceX, the company needs to develop a plan that makes the New Glenn reusable.
Two important parts of the project – testing the storage tank project and finalizing the second level design – are currently taking place. The engineers at Blue Origin are experimenting with various stainless steel for using it in its storage tanks. These tanks, in the future, need to withstand multiple launches and re-entry. Although stainless steel is able to withstand atmospheric heating better when re-entering the atmosphere, its weight is 5 times that of other composite materials. Notably, Bezos had provided the engineers with such a working environment that is not constrained by paperwork workflow.
On the other hand, another team has been working on developing three different ways to design and load the aircraft. The first step is installing a huge wing on the upper level, the second step is utilizing the Aerospike engine, and the third method combines flaps and propulsion combustion to land the aircraft vertically. However, the company Blue Origin will make the final decision by the end of 2021.
Whatever the team decides for its final design, the design of the storage tanks in all of the design options will be cylindrical. A source has mentioned that the project is developing rapidly than other projects of Blue Origin.
