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80-717: Sierra Space Corporation is a privately held aerospace and space technologies company headquartered in Louisville, Colorado , with additional facilities in Colorado, Wisconsin , Florida , North Carolina and a testing site at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama . The company makes spaceflight hardware for various applications across the industry. It is currently developing the Dream Chaser spaceplane. The spaceplane

160-599: A CRADA with the United States Transportation Command to develop concepts for using Dream Chaser space planes and Shooting Star cargo modules for “timely global delivery of Department of Defense logistics and personnel." The first Dream Chaser, DC-101 Tenacity , completed assembly in November 2023. The vehicle will be shipped to NASA’s Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility for environmental testing. Products from Sierra Space’s Destinations organization include

240-588: A crew-carrying lunar lander known as Blue Moon . The standard version of the lander is intended to transport 3.6 t (7,900 lb) to the lunar surface , whereas a stretched tank variant could land up to 6.5 t (14,000 lb) on the Moon; both vehicles are designed to make a soft landing on the Moon's surface. The lander will use the BE-7 hydrolox engine. On May 19, 2023, NASA contracted Blue Origin to develop, test and deploy its Blue Moon landing system for

320-528: A "simple, single-propellant engine" called the Blue Engine-1 ( BE-1 ) which uses peroxide propellant and generates 8.9 kN (2,000 lbf) of thrust . The Blue Engine-2 ( BE-2 ) which is a bipropellant engine using kerosene and peroxide, produces 140 kN (31,000 lbf) of thrust. The BE-3 is a family of rocket engines made by Blue Origin with two variants, the BE-3U and BE-3PM. The rocket engine

400-402: A $ 130   million award to jump-start the design of their Orbital Reef commercial space station. The project is envisioned as an expandable business park, with Boeing's Starliner and Sierra Space's Dream Chaser transporting passengers to and from low Earth orbit (LEO) for tourism , research and in-space manufacturing projects. Orbital Reef’s design will be modular in nature, to provide

480-588: A $ 5 million contract from NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a long range nuclear propulsion system called the Power Adjusted Demonstration Mars Engine, or PADME. NASA awarded $ 35 million to the company in 2023 for the company's work on lunar regolith to be used for solar powered systems on the moon. The company's website states that "Blue Alchemist is a proposed end-to-end, scalable, autonomous, and commercial solution that produces solar cells from lunar regolith, which

560-636: A Flight Readiness Firing of the Vulcan Rocket at launch pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida . Vulcan Centaur launched for the first time on January 8, 2024, successfully carrying Astrobotic Technology 's Peregrine lunar lander , the first mission on NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program using the BE-4 engine. The BE-7 engine

640-414: A Twitter post by the official Blue Origin account announced that the first two BE-4 engines had been delivered to ULA and were being integrated on a Vulcan rocket. In a later tweet, ULA CEO Tory Bruno said that one of the engines had already been installed on the booster, and that the other would be joining it momentarily. On June 7, 2023, the two BE-4 rocket engines performed as expected when ULA performed

720-478: A crew capsule. The capsule can be configured to house up to six passengers , cargo , or a combination of both. The booster rocket is powered by one BE-3PM engine, which sends the capsule to an apogee ( Sub-Orbital ) of 100.5 kilometres (62.4 mi) and flies above the Kármán line , where passengers and cargo can experience a few minutes of weightlessness before the capsule returns to Earth. The launch vehicle

800-517: A diameter of 3.8 metres (12 ft) and a launch mass of 75 short tons (150,000 lb; 68,000 kg). The BE-3PM engine produces 490 kN of thrust at takeoff . New Shepard allows the company to significantly reduce the cost of space tourism . New Glenn is a heavy-lift launch vehicle and is expected to launch in Q1 of 2025. The launch date has been set back because of numerous delays. Named after NASA astronaut John Glenn , design work on

880-660: A more serious scientific discipline. Airmen like Otto Lilienthal , who introduced cambered airfoils in 1891, used gliders to analyze aerodynamic forces . The Wright brothers were interested in Lilienthal's work and read several of his publications. They also found inspiration in Octave Chanute , an airman and the author of Progress in Flying Machines (1894). It was the preliminary work of Cayley, Lilienthal, Chanute, and other early aerospace engineers that brought about

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960-420: A new headquarters and R&D facility, called the O'Neill Building on June 6, 2020. Corn Ranch, commonly referred to as Launch Site One (LSO) is the company's launch site 30 miles north of Van Horn, Texas. The launch facility is located at 31.422927°N 104.757152°W. In addition to the sub-orbital launch pad, Launch Site One (LSO) includes a number of rocket engine test stands and engine test cells are at

1040-524: A part of the general safety of a system or a piece of equipment. It implies that the system or equipment can be operated properly and without causing any danger, risk, damage or injury. Functional safety is crucial in the aerospace industry, which allows no compromises or negligence. In this respect, supervisory bodies, such as the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), regulate the aerospace market with strict certification standards. This

1120-404: A part was repaired or overhauled to meet OEM specifications. Once a part is overhauled its value is determined from the supply and demand of the aerospace market. When an airline has an aircraft on the ground , the part that the airline requires to get the plane back into service becomes invaluable. This can drive the market for specific parts. There are several online marketplaces that assist with

1200-523: A realignment of the company. There were additional layoffs in October 2024. Sierra Space provides a mix of products and services in three areas: transportation, destinations, and applications. Initial cargo flights of the Dream Chaser vehicle are planned under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Contract with follow-on cargo, crewed and other missions available for commercial, civil, and national security uses. On September 8, 2022, Sierra Space announced it signed

1280-400: A single-test sequence." NASA has released a video of the test. As of December 2013 , the engine had demonstrated more than 160 starts and 9,100 seconds (2.5 h) of operation at the company's test facility near Van Horn, Texas . The BE-4 is a liquid oxygen /liquified natural gas (LOX/LNG) rocket engine that can produce 2,400 kN (550,000 lbf) of thrust. In late 2014,

1360-425: A variety of different fields including medicine, transportation, energy, consumer goods, public safety and more. NASA publishes an annual report called "Spinoffs", regarding many of the specific products and benefits to the aforementioned areas in an effort to highlight some of the ways funding is put to use. For example, in the most recent edition of this publication, "Spinoffs 2015", endoscopes are featured as one of

1440-557: A “mixed-use business park in space in low Earth orbit (LEO) for commerce, research, and tourism by the end of this decade." Sierra Space and Blue Origin received a $ 130 million contract to develop the Orbital Reef space station. It is expected to be operational by 2027. Sierra Space expects to announce its first astronaut trainees in 2023. In April 2023, Sierra Space and ILC Dover announced their partnership for developing of inflatable space station modules and spacesuits. ILC Dover will be

1520-412: Is New Glenn. New Shepard is a fully reusable suborbital launch vehicle developed for space tourism . The vehicle is named after Alan Shepard , the first American astronaut in space. The vehicle is capable of vertical takeoff and landings and can carry humans and customer payloads to the edge of space . The New Shepard launch vehicle is a rocket that consists of a booster rocket and

1600-513: Is a liquid hydrogen / liquid oxygen (LH2/LOX) cryogenic engine that can produce 490 kN (110,000 lbf) and 710 kN (160,000 lbf) of thrust, respectively. Early thrust chamber testing began at NASA Stennis in 2013. By late 2013, the BE-3 had been successfully tested on a full-duration sub-orbital burn, with simulated coast phases and engine relights, "demonstrating deep throttle, full power, long-duration and reliable restart all in

1680-449: Is a liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen dual expander cycle engine currently under development, designed for use on Blue Moon . The engine produces 44 kN (10,000 lbf) of thrust. Its first ignition tests were performed in June 2019, with thrust chamber assembly testing continuing through 2023. The company partnered with Aerojet Rocketdyne to develop a pusher launch escape system for

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1760-497: Is an American aerospace manufacturer and launch service provider . The company makes rocket engines for United Launch Alliance 's Vulcan rocket and is currently operating its suborbital reusable New Shepard vehicle and its heavy-lift launch vehicle named New Glenn . It is developing the Blue Moon human lunar lander for NASA 's Artemis program , and Orbital Reef space station in partnership with other companies. Blue Origin

1840-460: Is designed to be fully reusable, with the capsule returning to Earth via three parachutes and a solid rocket motor . The booster lands vertically on the same launchpad it took off from. The company has successfully launched and landed the New Shepard launch vehicle 26 times with 1 partial failure (deemed successful) and 1 failure. The launch vehicle has a length of 19.2 metres (63 ft),

1920-515: Is in Kent, Washington . Rocket development takes place at its headquarters. The company has continued to expand its Seattle-area offices and rocket production facilities since 2016, purchasing an adjacent 11,000 m (120,000 sq ft)-building. In 2017, the company filed permits to build a new 21,900 m (236,000 sq ft) warehouse complex and an additional 9,560 m (102,900 sq ft) of office space. The company established

2000-606: Is meant to reach and ensure the highest possible level of safety. The standards AS 9100 in America, EN 9100 on the European market or JISQ 9100 in Asia particularly address the aerospace and aviation industry. These are standards applying to the functional safety of aerospace vehicles. Some companies are therefore specialized in the certification, inspection, verification and testing of the vehicles and spare parts to ensure and attest compliance with

2080-490: Is near the entrance to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on Merritt Island, Florida . In addition to their Florida operations, they have also been leased the greenfield of Space Launch Complex 9 (SLC-9) at Vandenberg Space Force Base , where they plan to construct a New Glenn launch pad to give the launch vehicle polar orbit and Sun-synchronous orbit capabilities. The Blue Ring vehicle

2160-464: Is supported by two BE-4 engines. On June 7, 2023, United Launch Alliance (ULA) performed a Flight Readiness Firing of the Vulcan Centaur rocket at launch pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral , Florida , United States . The two BE-4 rocket engines worked as expected. In 2024, the company won its first NSSL contract. The vehicle to be used on the launches

2240-453: Is the dust and crushed rock abundant on the surface of the Moon. Based on a process called molten regolith electrolysis, the breakthrough would bootstrap unlimited electricity and power transmission cables anywhere on the surface of the Moon. This process also produces oxygen as a useful byproduct for propulsion and life support." Gary Lai, chief architect of the New Shepard rocket said during

2320-1181: The Canadian Space Agency in Canada, Indian Space Research Organisation in India, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in Japan, Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities in Russia, China National Space Administration in China, SUPARCO in Pakistan, Iranian Space Agency in Iran, and Korea Aerospace Research Institute in South Korea. Along with these public space programs, many companies produce technical tools and components such as spacecraft and satellites . Some known companies involved in space programs include Boeing , Cobham , Airbus , SpaceX , Lockheed Martin , RTX Corporation , MDA and Northrop Grumman . These companies are also involved in other areas of aerospace, such as

2400-930: The Kármán line . The passengers were Jeff Bezos , his brother Mark Bezos , Wally Funk , and Oliver Daemen , after the unnamed auction winner (later revealed to have been Justin Sun ) dropped out due to a scheduling conflict. Subsequent New Shepard passenger and cargo missions were: Blue Origin NS-17 , Blue Origin NS-18 , Blue Origin NS-19 , Blue Origin NS-20 , Blue Origin NS-21 and Blue Origin NS-23 . The company primarily employs an incremental approach from sub-orbital to orbital flight , with each developmental step building on its prior work. The company moved into

2480-668: The National Aerospace Laboratories and the Indian Space Research Organisation are headquartered. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched India's first Moon orbiter, Chandrayaan-1 , in October 2008. In Russia, large aerospace companies like Oboronprom and the United Aircraft Building Corporation (encompassing Mikoyan , Sukhoi , Ilyushin , Tupolev , Yakovlev , and Irkut which includes Beriev ) are among

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2560-536: The New Shepard suborbital crew capsule. Aerojet Rocketdyne provides the Crew Capsule Escape Solid Rocket Motor (CCE SRM) while the thrust vector control system that steers the capsule during an abort is designed and manufactured by Blue Origin. The company has facilities across the United States which include five main locations and five field offices: The company’s headquarters

2640-626: The Orbital Reef space station (in partnership with Blue Origin ) and the LIFE habitat. Through NASA’s NextSTEP project , Sierra Space completed its successful test in July 2022, which a maximum burst pressure rate of 192 psi. It then completed its second sub-scale ultimate burst pressure test on November 15, 2022 that achieved a 204 psi burst pressure rate. The safety requirement is 182.4 psi. The full-scale LIFE pressure tests began in 2023, and on January 22, 2024

2720-513: The first crewed mission crossing the Kármán line at 100 kilometers in altitude, with Bezos as one of the crew. The company delivered its first BE-4 rocket engine to United Launch Alliance in January 2023. In September 2023, Bob Smith was replaced by Dave Limp as the chief executive officer . Eric Berger from Ars Technica noted that there is a wide gulf of technical capability between Blue Origin and SpaceX and other competitiors. While SpaceX

2800-526: The orbital spaceflight technology development business in 2014, initially as a rocket engine supplier via a contractual agreement to build the BE-4 rocket engine, for major US launch system operator United Launch Alliance (ULA) . United Launch Alliance (ULA) has said that the first flight of its Vulcan Centaur heavy-lift launch vehicle is scheduled to launch in Q4 of 2023. The heavy-lift launch vehicles main power

2880-540: The BE-4 and BE-3U engines. The company is planning a third major expansion in Huntsville and the company was approved for the sale of 14.83 acres adjacent to its already sprawling campus at the price of $ 1.427 million. The Orbital Launch Site (OLS) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station , develops rockets and conducts extensive testing. The company converted Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) to launch New Glenn into orbit at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station . The facility

2960-597: The Blue Moon lunar lander proposal for the Artemis program in 2020. It also contested NASA's award to SpaceX for developing Starship HLS for the Artemis program in 2021, which indirectly led to a contract for its Blue Moon lander in 2023. The company was founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos , the founder of Amazon . Rob Meyerson joined the company in 2003 and served as the CEO before leaving

3040-537: The European Union, aerospace companies such as Airbus SE , Safran , Thales , Dassault Aviation , Leonardo and Saab AB account for a large share of the global aerospace industry and research effort, with the European Space Agency as one of the largest consumers of aerospace technology and products. In India, Bangalore is a major center of the aerospace industry, where Hindustan Aeronautics Limited ,

3120-579: The Orbital Launch Site, (hence its name) and a reusable booster refurbishment facility for the New Glenn launch vehicle, which is expected to land on a drone ship and return to Port Canaveral for refurbishment. Manufacturing of "large elements, such as New Glenn's first and second stages as well as the payload fairings and other large components will be made nearby in Exploration Park , which

3200-479: The Sierra Nevada Corporation, was a long established aerospace development company which was founded in 1963. Sierra Space operates facilities in 6 states including Colorado, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Florida, Texas, and Alabama. In October 2022, Blue Origin and Sierra Space partnered to jointly develop the world’s first commercially owned and operated space station, Orbital Reef. Orbital Reef will be

3280-652: The Swedish Air Force—;especially in support of its position as a neutral country. (See Saab AB .) Other European countries either team up in making fighters (such as the Panavia Tornado and the Eurofighter Typhoon ), or else to import them from the United States. Pakistan has a developing aerospace engineering industry. The National Engineering and Scientific Commission , Khan Research Laboratories and Pakistan Aeronautical Complex are among

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3360-532: The United States and Europe to fill these needs. However Canada still manufactures some military aircraft although they are generally not combat capable. Another notable example was the late 1950s development of the Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow , a supersonic fighter-interceptor whose 1959 cancellation was considered highly controversial. France has continued to make its own warplanes for its air force and navy, and Sweden continues to make its own warplanes for

3440-595: The United States. However, the United Kingdom has a very active aerospace sector, with major companies such as BAE Systems , supplying fully assembled aircraft, aircraft components, sub-assemblies and sub-systems to other manufacturers, both in Europe and all over the world. Canada has formerly manufactured some of its own designs for jet warplanes, etc. (e.g. the CF-100 fighter), but for some decades, it has relied on imports from

3520-445: The agency's Artemis V mission, which explores the Moon and prepares future crewed missions to Mars . The project includes an uncrewed test mission followed by a crewed Moon landing in 2029. The contract value is $ 3.4 billion. In mid-2024, the company announced initial acceptance testing completion on the thrusters for the MK1 variant of the Blue Moon lander. Blue Origin's first engine is

3600-456: The agency's effort to demonstrate more efficient methods of traveling through outer space for space exploration . One benefit to using nuclear fission as a propellent for spacecraft is that nuclear-based systems can have less mass than solar cells which means a spacecraft could be smaller while using the same amount of energy more efficiently. Nuclear fission concepts that can power both life support and propulsion systems could greatly reduce

3680-425: The air density is too low for a lifting body to generate meaningful lift force without exceeding orbital velocity. In most industrial countries, the aerospace industry is a co-operation of the public and private sectors. For example, several states have a civilian space program funded by the government , such as National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the United States, European Space Agency in Europe,

3760-405: The appropriate regulations. Spinoffs refer to any technology that is a direct result of coding or products created by NASA and redesigned for an alternate purpose. These technological advancements are one of the primary results of the aerospace industry, with $ 5.2 billion worth of revenue generated by spinoff technology, including computers and cellular devices. These spinoffs have applications in

3840-464: The biggest payload fairing in the world. Like the New Shepard , New Glenn's first stage is also designed to be reusable . In 2021, the company initiated conceptual design work on approaches to potentially make the second stage reusable as well, with the project codenamed " Project Jarvis ". NASA announced on February 9, 2023, that it had selected the New Glenn heavy-lift launch vehicle for

3920-472: The capability to design and manufacture both armed and unarmed unmanned aerial vehicles . In the People's Republic of China, Beijing , Xi'an , Chengdu , Shanghai , Shenyang and Nanchang are major research and manufacture centers of the aerospace industry. China has developed an extensive capability to design, test and produce military aircraft, missiles and space vehicles. Despite the cancellation in 1983 of

4000-488: The commodity selling of aircraft parts. In the aerospace and defense industry, much consolidation occurred at the end of the 20th century and in the early 21st century. Between 1988 and 2011, more than 6,068 mergers and acquisitions with a total known value of US$ 678 billion were announced worldwide. The largest transactions have been: Multiple technologies and innovations are used in aerospace, many of them pioneered around World War II : Functional safety relates to

4080-463: The company announced a successful full scale burst test of the LIFE habitat, exceeding safety margins by 27%. Applications products include three areas: In early 2024, Sierra announced their own satellite bus line named Velocity, Horizon, and Titan. Aerospace The beginning of space and the ending of the air are proposed as 100km (62mi) above the ground according to the physical explanation that

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4160-497: The company in 2018. Bob Smith served as CEO from 2018 to 2023. The current CEO is Dave Limp. Little is known about the company's activities in its early years. In 2006, the company purchased land for its New Shepard missions 30 miles North of Van Horn, Texas, United States called Launch Site One (LS1). In November 2006, the first test vehicle was launched, the Goddard rocket, which reached an altitude of 285 feet. After initiating

4240-487: The company signed an agreement with United Launch Alliance (ULA) to develop the BE-4 engine, for ULA's upgraded Atlas V and Vulcan Centaur rockets replacing the RD-180 Russian-made rocket engine. The newly developed heavy-lift launch vehicle will use two of the 2,400 kN (550,000 lbf) BE-4 engines on each first stage . The engine development program for the BE-4 began in 2011. On October 31, 2022,

4320-607: The construction of aircraft. Modern aerospace began with Engineer George Cayley in 1799. Cayley proposed an aircraft with a "fixed wing and a horizontal and vertical tail," defining characteristics of the modern aeroplane. The 19th century saw the creation of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain (1866), the American Rocketry Society, and the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences , all of which made aeronautics

4400-543: The cost and flight time during space exploration. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded General Atomics , Lockheed Martin and Blue Origin contracts to fund and build nuclear spacecraft under the agency's Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations program or DRACO program. The company was awarded $ 2.9 million to develop spacecraft component designs. In partnership with Blue Origin, Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy , GE Research , Framatome and Materion , USNC-Tech won

4480-454: The development of an orbital rocket system prior to 2012, and stating in 2013 on their website that the first stage would perform a powered vertical landing and be reusable, the company publicly announced their orbital launch vehicle intentions in September 2015. In January 2016, the company indicated that the new rocket would be many times larger than New Shepard . The company publicly released

4560-569: The exclusive partner in providing soft goods for Sierra Space’s Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) modules for commercial space stations. Sierra Space and the United States Air Force announced a partnership in July 2023. Under a 27-month, $ 22.6 million contract, Sierra Space will develop a 35,000 lbf thrust upper stage engine, known as the Vortex (VR35K-A). Work for the Vortex involves designing flight-weight engine components through

4640-441: The experimental Shanghai Y-10 , China is still developing its civil aerospace industry. The aircraft parts industry was born out of the sale of second-hand or used aircraft parts from the aerospace manufacture sector. Within the United States there is a specific process that parts brokers or resellers must follow. This includes leveraging a certified repair station to overhaul and "tag" a part. This certification guarantees that

4720-599: The first crewed Moon landing. In April 1981, the Space Shuttle Columbia launched, the start of regular crewed access to orbital space. A sustained human presence in orbital space started with " Mir " in 1986 and is continued by the " International Space Station ". Space commercialization and space tourism are more recent features of aerospace. Aerospace manufacturing is a high-technology industry that produces "aircraft, guided missiles, space vehicles, aircraft engines, propulsion units, and related parts". Most of

4800-648: The first powered sustained flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903, by the Wright brothers. War and science fiction inspired scientists and engineers like Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and Wernher von Braun to achieve flight beyond the atmosphere. World War II inspired Wernher von Braun to create the V1 and V2 rockets. The launch of Sputnik 1 in October 1957 started the Space Age , and on July 20, 1969 Apollo 11 achieved

4880-544: The greatest amount of customization and compatibility. It will reportedly be designed to accept docking from almost every in operation spacecraft like SpaceX Dragon 2 , Soyuz (spacecraft) , Dream Chaser , and Boeing Starliner . The initial modules will be: Life, Node, Core, and Research Modules. In 2024 NASA increased funding for Orbital Reef by $ 42 million, bringing the total award to $ 172 million. NASA plans to test spacecraft , engines and other propellent systems powered by nuclear fission no later than 2027 as part of

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4960-522: The high-level design of the vehicle and announced its name in September 2016 as " New Glenn ". The New Glenn heavy-lift launch vehicle can be configured in both two-stage and three-stage variants. New Glenn is planned to launch in Q3 of 2024. On July 20, 2021, New Shepard performed its first crewed mission to sub-orbital space called Blue Origin NS-16 . The flight lasted approximately 10 minutes and crossed

5040-1053: The industrial sector with fresh workers, apprenticeship programs like the Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Council (AJAC) collaborate with community colleges and aerospace firms in Washington state. Important locations of the civilian aerospace industry worldwide include Washington state ( Boeing ), California ( Boeing , Lockheed Martin , etc.) and Montreal, Quebec , Canada ( Bombardier , Pratt & Whitney Canada ) in North America ; Toulouse , France ( Airbus SE ) and Hamburg , Germany ( Airbus SE ) in Europe ; as well as São José dos Campos , Brazil ( Embraer ), Querétaro , Mexico (Bombardier Aerospace, General Electric Aviation) and Mexicali , Mexico (United Technologies Corporation, Gulfstream Aerospace ) in Latin America . In

5120-432: The industry is geared toward governmental work. For each original equipment manufacturer (OEM), the US government has assigned a Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code . These codes help to identify each manufacturer, repair facilities, and other critical aftermarket vendors in the aerospace industry. In the United States, the Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are

5200-481: The jettison event of a traditional 'tractor' Launch Escape System, and (2) an innovative composite pressure vessel cabin that both reduces weight and increases safety of astronauts. This was later revealed to be a part of a larger system, designed for a bionic capsule, that would be launched atop an Atlas V rocket. On November 8, 2010, it was announced that the company had completed all milestones under its CCDev Space Act Agreement. In April 2011, The company received

5280-442: The launch of two Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) spacecraft . The New Glenn heavy-lift launch vehicle will launch ESCAPADE in Q2 of 2025 with the ESCAPADE spacecraft entering Mars's orbit approximately one year after launch. In 2024, Blue Origin received funding from the USSF to assess New Glenn's ability to launch national security payloads. In May 2019, Jeff Bezos announced plans for

5360-413: The major global players in this industry. The historic Soviet Union was also the home of a major aerospace industry. The United Kingdom formerly attempted to maintain its own large aerospace industry, making its own airliners and warplanes, but it has largely turned its lot over to cooperative efforts with continental companies, and it has turned into a large import customer, too, from countries such as

5440-557: The medical derivations of aerospace achievement. This device enables more precise and subsequently cost-effective neurosurgery by reducing complications through a minimally invasive procedure that abbreviates hospitalization. "These NASA technologies are not only giving companies and entrepreneurs a competitive edge in their own industries, but are also helping to shape budding industries, such as commercial lunar landers ," said Daniel Lockney. Blue Origin Blue Origin Enterprises, L.P. , commonly referred to as Blue Origin ,

5520-500: The pathfinder awards at the Seattle Museum of Flight that [The company] "aims to be the first company that harvests natural resources from the moon to use here on Earth,” He also mentioned that the company is building a novel approach to extract outer space's vast resources. In the chart below, ♺ means "Flight Proven Booster" Capsule:23,269 ft (4 mi) Capsule:322,405 ft(61 mi) The company has contracted to do work for NASA on several development efforts. The company

5600-409: The premier organizations involved in research and development in this sector. Pakistan has the capability of designing and manufacturing guided rockets, missiles and space vehicles. The city of Kamra is home to the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex which contains several factories. This facility is responsible for manufacturing the MFI-17 , MFI-395 , K-8 and JF-17 Thunder aircraft. Pakistan also has

5680-513: The site to support the hydrolox , methalox and storable propellant engines. There are three test cells for the BE-3 and BE-4 engines. The test cells support full-thrust and full-duration burns, and one supports short-duration, high-pressure preburner tests. Engine production is located in Huntsville, Alabama, at a 600,000 square foot facility called, "Blue Engine". The companies website states that, "The world-class engine manufacturing facility in The Rocket City conduct[s] high rate production of

5760-633: The two largest consumers of aerospace technology and products. Others include the very large airline industry. The aerospace industry employed 472,000 wage and salary workers in 2006. Most of those jobs were in Washington state and in California, with Missouri , New York and Texas also being important. The leading aerospace manufacturers in the U.S. are Boeing , United Technologies Corporation , SpaceX , Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin . As talented American employees age and retire, these manufacturers face an expanding labor shortfall. In order to supply

5840-528: The use of component and integrated breadboard engine test data. In August 2023, Sierra Space announced that it would be collaborating with BioServe Space Technologies to grow hematopoietic stem cells in microgravity to research undergoing treatment for blood cancer . The same month, the company also partnered with Redwire on a biotech experiment platform that will be installed on Sierra Space's commercial space station LIFE module. Reports in November 2023 indicated that Sierra Space laid off 165 workers in

5920-434: The vehicle began in early 2012. Illustrations of the vehicle, and the high-level specifications, were initially publicly unveiled in September 2016. The full vehicle was first unveiled on a launch pad on February 21, 2024. The rocket has a diameter of 7 meters (23 ft), and its first stage is powered by seven BE-4 engines. The fairing is claimed to have twice the payload volume of "any commercial launch system" and to be

6000-531: Was announced in October 2023 by Blue Origin. It will have its own engine and is meant to handle orbital logistics and delivery. In March 2024, in partnership with the United States Space Force , it was announced that the Blue Ring’s capabilities will be tested soon on a mission called DarkSky-1. The company and its partners Sierra Space , Boeing , Redwire Space and Genesis Engineering Solutions won

6080-426: Was awarded $ 3.7 million in funding by NASA in 2009 via a Space Act Agreement under the first Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program for development of concepts and technologies to support future human spaceflight operations. NASA co-funded risk-mitigation activities related to ground testing of (1) an innovative 'pusher' escape system, that lowers cost by being reusable and enhances safety by avoiding

6160-512: Was founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos and kept a very low profile about its development in the beginning. Its motto is Gradatim Ferociter , Latin for "Step by Step, Ferociously". At this time, Blue Origin was sustained by Bezos's private investment fund . Fifteen years later in 2015, the company first performed its uncrewed launch and landing of the New Shepard suborbital launch vehicle. In that year, Blue Origin also announced plans for its reusable New Glenn vehicle. In 2021, New Shepard performed

6240-408: Was initially completed in 2020 and is being used for the construction of New Glenn prototypes, rocket testing, and designs. The company facility is situated on 306 acres of land assembled from former Launch Complexes 11 , 36A , and 36B , along with using the adjacent Launch Complex 12 for storage. The land parcel used to build a rocket engine test stand for the BE-4 engine, a launch mount, called

6320-677: Was launching hundreds of rockets to orbit , Blue Origin has launched none. Blue Origin has also been involved in many NASA contracts throughout its history. The company has bids for the Commercial Crew Program to develop a crewed capsule for the International Space Station and use of the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 (disputed and now used by SpaceX). Blue Origin (alongside Lockheed Martin , Northrop Grumman , and Draper ) also submitted

6400-456: Was selected by NASA to provide services to the International Space Station under NASA's Commercial Resupply Service 2 contract. The company is also in collaboration with Blue Origin to develop components of the Orbital Reef space station . Sierra Space is a spin-off from Sierra Nevada Corporation that was established as an independent commercial space company in April 2021. Its parent company,

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