"With New Glenn, Blue Origin is seeking to refly a booster on just the third overall flight of the New Glenn fleet and turn the rocket around in less than four months. Even for a well-capitalized program with the benefit of learning from both Blue Origin's own suborbital New Shepard rocket and the industry's experience with the Falcon 9, this represents an impressive turnaround in first stage reuse."
"Blue Origin originally planned to launch its MK1 lunar lander on the third flight of New Glenn, but it pivoted to a commercial launch as the lunar vehicle continues preparatory work. On Wednesday, the company announced that it had completed the integration of the MK1 vehicle and put it on a barge bound for Johnson Space Center in Houston. There, it will undergo vacuum chamber testing before a launch later this spring-or, more likely, sometime this summer."
SpaceX landed its second Falcon 9 booster in April 2016 on the fleet's 23rd flight, and that booster returned to flight in March 2017 after refurbishment and inspections, nearly 11 months later. Blue Origin plans to refly a New Glenn first stage on only the third flight of the New Glenn fleet and aims for a turnaround under four months. New Glenn's reuse cadence leverages Blue Origin's New Shepard experience and industry lessons from Falcon 9 to pursue a faster demonstration of first-stage reuse. Blue Origin shifted the third-flight slot from the MK1 lunar lander to a commercial launch while the lunar vehicle completes preparatory work. The MK1 has been integrated and shipped to Johnson Space Center for vacuum testing ahead of a likely summer launch.
Read at Ars Technica
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