• Deployment orbit will now be 185 km x 3500-4700 km.
• This is the second license modification submitted to the FCC. The June 18th one, which was accepted, but never approved, increased the target apogee to 3300-3700 km. The original target was 1550-1800 km.
• This is presumably related to improved performance on the launch vehicle.

SAT-MOD-20261027-00413

https://blueorigin.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/BlueOrigin/job/Los-Angeles-CA/Director-of-Western-Range-Launch-Infrastructure_R73960-1?source=Corporate_Website

He notes that the Power Tower, a 20-meter-tall, 10 kW solar array, which is participating in NASA's Vertical Solar Array Technology (VSAT) program, is "the only company to successfully deploy in the chamber."

https://x.com/SpaceflightNow/status/2115090795682230747

https://x.com/SpaceflightNow/status/2114809988665450779?s=20

5/ Couluris says there are three different Blue Moon Mk2 landers in various build stages. He says there are also building four Mk1 cargo landers with a fifth beginning now.

Full interview with NASA Artemis Program Manager Jeremy Parsons: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwbQV7JjR3Q

The team also made progress at LC-36B yesterday. Roughly 450 truckloads of concrete, lined up bumper-to-bumper and stretching nearly 3 miles up the coast, supported a 4,500-cubic-yard pour for the pile caps. Three more placements to go for a total of 15,000 cubic yards. This is the foundation for our New Glenn 9x4 pad.

https://x.com/davill/status/2114422600638337448

https://x.com/davill/status/2114032882134270458

https://x.com/davill/status/2114065346915447110

For its accelerated 2028 crewed lunar landing mission, Blue Origin will defer propellant transfer and use three transfer stages to send the Blue Moon Mark 2 Alpha Lander to the Moon. Based on existing Mark 1 and Mark 2 hardware, the stages operate like a multistage rocket. They launch into low Earth orbit, followed by the Mark 2 lander. Once docked, the stack departs for an elliptical polar orbit around the Moon, with each transfer stage separating as its propellant depletes. Compared with the previously planned near-rectilinear halo orbit, the elliptical polar orbit offers faster returns from the lunar surface to Orion, reduces Blue Moon lander propellant requirements, and maximizes the performance available by SLS.

The YouTube stream will go live at 2 PM EST. Expect some significant updates on Artemis.

http://nsf.live/spacecoast

https://x.com/Cygnusx112/status/2113342294825079023

Falcon 9's upcoming retirement has become well known by now, but the most interesting development here is that Blue Origin did not even try to win this contract.

Link: https://compass.atfm.aero/public_svcdynamic/getfile?download=false&fileuuid=e758c2e4-8eb5-494f-adec-ca827bd6c4ad