Blue Origin Unveils New Space Mobility Platform, Plans To Launch Blue Ring by 2025

Blue Origin is working on a new platform to address in-space logistics and delivery challenges. Jeff Bezos' space company just unveiled Blue Ring - a "space mobility platform" - which they planned to launch in two years.

Blue Origin Announces Blue Ring

In a press release, Blue Origin announced its "multi-mission, multi-orbit space mobility platform" dubbed "Blue Ring." The company is expanding upon its mission to build a road to space for the benefit of Earth and the new platform is designed to focus on providing in-space logistics and delivery.

Blue Ring supports a range of missions in medium Earth orbit all the way out to the Cislunar area and beyond for both commercial and governmental clients. The platform offers end-to-end services, including "in-space" cloud computing, in the areas of hosting, transportation, refueling, data relay, and logistics. Blue Ring offers unmatched delta-V capabilities and mission flexibility and is capable of holding payloads weighing more than 3,000 kg.

According to Paul Ebertz, Senior Vice President of Blue Origin's In-Space Systems, Blue Ring solves two of the most challenging issues facing spaceflight today -expanding space infrastructure and enhancing mobility in orbit. He added that they provide their customers with the means to quickly and affordably navigate through a range of orbits while having access to crucial information to guarantee a mission's success.

According to Blue Origin's VP of government sales, Lars Hoffman, Blue Ring can host and launch 1,100-lb-class satellites with more than a dozen connection ports and can carry payloads up to 3,000 kg, depending on the orbit. Blue Ring has the capacity to transport several payloads to numerous orbits as well as the stretch to the ultimate orbit.

The majority of satellites are either precisely positioned into their orbits or are dumped off and must propel themselves to their final orbits. However, it still needs to enter orbit. Per Hoffman, while the space industry would naturally prefer to launch the Ring on its own rockets, it could also travel on craft like the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, or ULA's Vulcan.

Blue Origin plans to launch a Blue Ring by 2025, which is an ambitious target considering Blue Origin's track record, and Hoffman also noted that Blue Ring has had a lot of interest from consumers and that "the manifest is already pretty full."

Blue Ring is part of Blue Origin's newly formed unit, In-Space Systems, headed by Ebertz.

Blue Ring System

The size of the Blue Ring wasn't mentioned in the press releases, but Hoffman teased that it was "rather large," with solar arrays extending 144 feet in length. Additionally, it includes chemical thrusters for added power.

Blue Ring will be powered by a combination of chemical and solar-electric propulsion systems. Per Hoffman, it uses the "best of both systems." He stressed that it has the energy of electric propulsion for station-keeping or to save energy for transferring from one orbit to another. It also has the energy of chemical propulsion to get from point A to point B quickly.

The company declined to give further information about the Blue Ring engines other than to say that they are not modified versions of the current engine line of BE-3, BE-4, or BE-7s that power the New Shepard suborbital system, United Launch Alliance's Vulcan and Blue Origin's New Glenn rockets, as well as the Blue Moon lunar lander, among other things. According to Hoffman, it's employing a version created especially for Blue Ring.

The platform, which has a five-year lifespan, can refuel in orbit and refill other spacecraft. Blue Origin is financing the entire development process and providing the platform as a finished product.

The Kent, Washington, facility of Blue Origin is producing Blue Ring development units. The company's plant in Huntsville, Alabama, will build more units while receiving components from other locations.

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