Blue Origin Director Tells Orbital Plans

The chapter's January meeting featured Scott Henderson, director of launch sites for Blue Origin, headquartered in Kent, Washington. Blue Origin is focused on vertical takeoff, vertical landing rocket vehicles for orbital and sub-orbital transport of passengers. Having developed the sub-orbital Shepard rocket and capsule, the company now has the orbital vehicle under development. Henderson reminded listeners of the $10,000 per pound current cost for orbital flight, chiefly because of the one-time use of the booster rocket. Also a factor is launching from Cape Canaveral and other government sites—specifically the several layers of oversight, regulations and bureaucracy associated with those sites. The latter has prompted commercial rocket companies to seek new sites with only state and Federal Aviation Authority oversight. Henderson is leading the company's commercial site selection team and expects to announce a decision in the next fiscal quarter. Henderson says that with the reusable booster stage being brought back to the launch site and refurbished and with the freedom to launch at any time on any day, the per pound cost would be significantly lower, enabling the commercial launch companies to compete in the world market for customers. Also, Blue Origin has a contract with United Launch Alliance to produce a rocket for the Atlas V, which now uses Russian engines.

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