Blue Origin’s newly constructed landing barge, named “Jacklyn” after Jeff Bezos’ mother, arrived at Port Canaveral, Florida on Wednesday, September 4, 2024. The massive vessel, measuring 380 feet long and 150 feet wide, was custom-built specifically to support at-sea landings and recoveries of Blue Origin’s upcoming New Glenn rocket.

Jacklyn was constructed in two phases – the initial build took place in Romania in early 2023, with finishing works undertaken at Damen Shipyards in Brest, France, from April 2024. After completing brief sea trials, the barge embarked on its transatlantic journey from Brest to Florida on August 8, 2024, towed by Blue Origin’s recovery support ship, the Harvey Stone.

Purpose and Features

Jacklyn serves the same purpose as SpaceX’s droneships, providing a stable platform for New Glenn’s reusable first stage to land on after launching payloads to orbit. The barge is similar in width to SpaceX’s droneships but significantly longer, with large support buildings on the forward and aft sections.

While the exact features and capabilities of Jacklyn have not been publicly disclosed, it is assumed to have specialized equipment such as station-keeping thrusters to maintain its position during booster landings. As a custom-built vessel designed from the ground up for this specific purpose, Jacklyn likely incorporates cutting-edge technology and innovations to ensure successful recoveries of the New Glenn first stage.

Preparation for New Glenn’s Debut

The arrival of Jacklyn at Port Canaveral marks a significant milestone as Blue Origin ramps up preparations for the inaugural launch of its New Glenn heavy-lift rocket. The mission, codenamed ESCAPADE, is currently targeted for October 13, 2024 from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

ESCAPADE will send twin NASA probes towards Mars to study the Red Planet’s magnetosphere, atmosphere, and their interactions with the solar wind. The probes were developed by Rocket Lab and will be the primary payload for New Glenn’s maiden flight.

A successful recovery of the rocket’s first stage on Jacklyn is a secondary objective of this debut mission. Blue Origin engineers have been diligently preparing the rocket hardware, recently completing the integration of the first stage with the connecting ring. The company appears to be on track to meet the targeted launch date, which is constrained by a narrow ballistic window for the Mars-bound probes. Any significant delays could push the mission back by two years.

Expanding Space Presence at Port Canaveral

Jacklyn’s arrival further solidifies Port Canaveral’s growing role as a hub for sea-based space operations. The port currently hosts an array of vessels supporting various space missions and companies:

• NASA’s Pegasus barge and ArianeGroup’s Canopée, carrying hardware for the Artemis program
• SpaceX’s extensive East Coast fleet of droneships and support ships
• United Launch Alliance’s Rocketship, delivering Atlas V and Vulcan rocket components
• Space Perspective’s high-altitude balloon tourism operations

The increasing space-related activity at Port Canaveral has prompted discussions about potential upgrades to better accommodate this growth. Space Florida, the state’s aerospace economic development agency, released a study proposing a $2 billion expansion that would include a large dock along the border of the Space Force station. While no funding has been allocated for these upgrades yet, the proposal underscores the port’s strategic importance in the rapidly evolving commercial spaceflight landscape.

Blue Origin’s Progress and Ambitions

The sight of Jacklyn at Port Canaveral serves as a tangible sign of Blue Origin’s progress and ambitions in the realm of reusable orbital rockets. The company, founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, has been developing the New Glenn rocket since 2012.

New Glenn is a two-stage rocket standing 98 meters tall and 7 meters in diameter. It is designed to deliver up to 45 tons of payload to low Earth orbit and 13.6 tons to geostationary orbit. The rocket’s first stage is powered by seven BE-4 engines, which run on a methane-oxygen fuel mixture, and is intended to be reusable, landing vertically on a barge after separation.

Initially, Blue Origin had planned to use a modified cargo ship named “Stena Freighter” as the landing platform for New Glenn boosters. However, the company later decided to scrap this vessel and instead commissioned the construction of Jacklyn as a purpose-built landing barge.

The successful recovery of New Glenn’s first stage on Jacklyn during the upcoming ESCAPADE mission would mark a major achievement for Blue Origin, validating the rocket’s reusability and paving the way for more cost-effective access to space. It would also demonstrate the company’s ability to execute complex, autonomous maritime operations in support of its launch missions.

As Blue Origin continues to make strides with the New Glenn program, the company is also maintaining a regular cadence of crewed suborbital flights with its New Shepard vehicle. The latest mission, designated NS-26, was executed successfully on August 29, 2024, from Blue Origin’s West Texas launch site. These suborbital flights serve as a stepping stone towards the company’s long-term vision of enabling human spaceflight and space tourism on a larger scale.

Looking ahead, Blue Origin has ambitious plans beyond New Glenn and suborbital missions. The company is working on the development of a lunar lander called Blue Moon, which is designed to deliver cargo and crew to the lunar surface.

Furthermore, Jeff Bezos has expressed his vision of establishing permanent human settlements in space, with millions of people living and working in orbital habitats. While this goal may seem far-fetched, the steady progress made by Blue Origin, as evidenced by milestones like Jacklyn’s arrival and the impending New Glenn launch, brings the company closer to realizing these aspirations.

Summary

The arrival of Blue Origin’s Jacklyn landing barge at Port Canaveral represents a significant step forward for the company’s New Glenn rocket program and its ambitions in the commercial space industry. As the barge prepares to support the recovery of New Glenn’s first stage during its debut mission, it symbolizes Blue Origin’s commitment to reusability and cost-effective access to space.

With Jacklyn in place and the New Glenn rocket nearing its inaugural launch, Blue Origin is poised to make a major impact on the space industry. The successful execution of the ESCAPADE mission and the recovery of the rocket’s first stage would validate the company’s technology and pave the way for future missions, both in Earth orbit and beyond.

As Port Canaveral continues to evolve into a bustling hub for space-related activities, the presence of Blue Origin’s Jacklyn barge alongside other key players in the industry highlights the growing importance of maritime operations in supporting the next generation of space exploration and commercialization.

In the coming years, as Blue Origin expands its capabilities and pursues its vision of millions of people living and working in space, milestones like Jacklyn’s arrival will be remembered as significant steps in the company’s journey to reshape the future of human spaceflight.