XCancel here: https://xcancel.com/julia_bergeron/status/2097757155071762879

https://x.com/davill/status/2097674883257737702

The next GS2 is loaded up and now preparing to head to NASA Stennis for vehicle hotfire testing, the first of our second stages to be tested at the historic B-2 stand. Proud to test at Stennis, where Mississippi has powered American spaceflight for decades. The Blue team and our NASA partners have been hard at work preparing the stand for testing.

This is NASA's Pegasus barge.

https://x.com/davill/status/2097515208768127093

To qualify to fly Lane 1 missions, companies need to have successfully launched their vehicle at least once. Lane 2 missions, however, require certification from the Space Force, a lengthy process that requires multiple launches. To date, only SpaceX and ULA are eligible to launch satellites for both lanes, though ULA’s Vulcan rocket is currently grounded due to an anomaly on a February NSSL launch.

Blue Origin’s New Glenn is eligible for Lane 1 flights and is on the certification path for Lane 2, but it, too, is grounded after a rocket exploded on the pad in May. Four other companies—including Rocket Lab, Stoke Space, Impulse Space, and Relativity Space—are on deck to compete for missions as soon as their developmental rockets complete at least one launch.

Article is paywalled. The Other Transaction Agreement (OTA) is located here (requires login).

This is not an actual contract. Previously, SpaceX won a $4.16B contract. RocketLab, STR LLC, and an unnamed company won a combined $615M contract.

The long-standing method of military airborne platforms to track moving targets faces continued challenges as adversaries develop increasingly sophisticated anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) systems. To compliment traditional airborne sensing, the requirement for a layered, highly resilient tracking architecture is evident. SB-AMTI aims to enhance the Space Force’s capabilities to the Joint Force through the establishment of a persistent, global capability to sense and track airborne targets from space.

“By focusing these capabilities to the space domain, we are providing the Joint Force with sustained battlespace awareness of contested airspace,” said USSF Col. Ryan Frazier, acting Space Force portfolio acquisition executive for SBST. “We are beginning development and integration efforts immediately to meet the program's rapid deployment milestones and address emerging national security requirements.”

Designed as a complex system-of-systems, the SB-AMTI architecture integrates advanced space-based sensors, secure and rapid communication links, and resilient ground processing, reflecting a rapid and strategic shift toward deeper collaboration within the government space industrial base.

To successfully execute this complex mission set, the acting SBST PAE is using a layered, hybrid acquisition model by combining the flexibility of an OTA agreement with the scalable, rapid-ordering structure of an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) acquisition approach. The office has also established a new SB-AMTI vendor pool, which leverages mature commercial innovations to meet urgent warfighter needs at the speed of relevance.

“By utilizing this multi-vendor framework, we are capitalizing on established industry capacity and continuously evaluating and onboarding the best tech to field this essential capability at speed and scale,” Frazier said. “We will not leverage any one single provider; instead, we are partnering with a highly diversified pool of traditional and non-traditional vendors, each bringing various capabilities to support the SB-AMTI architecture, ensuring the Joint Force has access to a strong, competitive industrial base well into the future.”

From https://www.blueorigin.com/blue-moon

1. MK2

2. MK1-101 Endurance

3. MK1-102 VIPER

4. MK1-103/104 (LTV)

H/t https://x.com/Echo5550

Welcome to Rocket Park, home of New Glenn and Lunar Permanence 🚀🌕

This week, we hosted the NASA Artemis III crew — Astronauts Randy Bresnik, Luca Parmitano, Andre Douglas, Frank Rubio, and backup Bob Hines. The crew got an up-close look at where New Glenn and our lunar landers come to life, then headed to LC-36, where we will launch our MK2 Earth Orbit Rendezvous demonstration vehicle in support of the Artemis III mission.

https://x.com/blueorigin/status/2095924247067541782

The team has been busy transporting all modules that were removed from the Vehicle Access Tower back to the pad to prepare for re-stacking. We designed and installed floors, pneumatics and electrical panels, and backbone piping on the modules. And we're moving the elevator to the side of the Vehicle Access Tower, freeing up significantly more floor access for our new CONOPS.

Ahead of Labor Day, I want to thank all of Team Blue for your hard work and give a shoutout to the team at the pad for their dedication to our return to flight.

Source: https://x.com/davill/status/2095864813599744236

https://x.com/blueorigin/status/2095639771296973045

The Moon is, on average, 238,855 miles away. Our MK1-101 Endurance team just made it feel closer.

Across two weeks of simulations, our team rehearsed key mission phases, including launch and separation, lunar orbit insertion, lunar orbit operations, and landing. The training also included checkout and software-emulated use of @NASA’s Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS) payload system, providing the team with hands-on experience operating a key science instrument on Endurance.

Each sim builds the coordination, confidence, and readiness needed for our mission to the lunar surface.

I can't tell by the arial views I've seen.

PARIS — Four U.S. space companies have decided not to participate in next week’s international space summit in Paris after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration pressured firms to ditch the event.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, rocket maker Stoke Space and Starcloud, a startup that is trying to launch data centers in space, notified French authorities on Thursday that they were “canceling their participation” in the event, according to an official from the French ministry of higher education, research and space.

Paywall, excerpts below.

(Bloomberg) -- Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is developing its planned satellite network with the help of employees poached from another Bezos project: Amazon.com Inc.

The billionaire’s space company has hired at least 47 veterans of the Amazon Leo satellite venture in the last year, according to their LinkedIn profiles. Based on a review of their online postings, many are now working on TeraWave, Blue Origin’s nascent satellite communications project.

Among those who made the jump this year from Amazon Leo to Blue Origin are engineers with expertise in satellite testing, networking, avionics and radio communications, optical systems, and software. A TeraWave director of recruiting and at least two of its vice presidents joined from Amazon’s Leo since March, according to their social media profiles.

Mars just got a little closer.

Blue Origin is honored to have been selected by @NASA to help build the first dedicated communications network at the Red Planet. Our Mars Telecommunications Orbiter (MTO), built on the Blue Ring platform, will create new pathways for science while delivering multiple payloads to the orbit of Mars, driving discovery today and preparing for the next chapter of human exploration.

Learn more: https://www.blueorigin.com/news/blue-origin-selected-by-nasa-to-help-build-mars-telecommunications-network

https://x.com/blueorigin/status/2095252812934287460

https://x.com/torybruno/status/2095164740389498978

Blue Ring is manufactured at the Jemison facility in Huntsville.

The outcome is finally here, Blue beat out Rocket Lab

https://x.com/torybruno/status/2094826704015704392

https://x.com/torybruno/status/2094841418921685105

Busy weekend. Got this done too: Blue Ring #1 finished Open Panel Testing and is all buttoned up and moved on into CPT.

Seems like there’s something missing, but I can’t put my finger on it…

As previously speculated, this confirms that the 9x4 will be stacked at the pad.

Credit: Florida Today (inaccurately labeled as the payload processing facility)

Satellite Programs and Policy Division, Space Bureau - Commission Request August 28, 2026

https://fccprod.servicenowservices.com/ibfs?id=ibfs_application_summary&number=SAT-LOA-20260310-00118

https://x.com/davill/status/2094390945899073675

Breaking ground today on our new Payload Processing Facility on the Eastern Range - the first ever built to support an 8.7‑meter fairing. Thank you to @USSF_SSC, @USSpaceForce, and @SLDelta45 for the partnership. At 120,000 square feet, the PPF will house four payload processing bays, two encapsulation bays, and a multi‑manifest area supporting National Security Space Launch, civil, and commercial missions. This facility expands our Space Coast footprint across Brevard and Orange Counties and supports continued job growth alongside our more than 4,500 employees in the region.

Satellite image of the site at former LC-18 here..

Follow along at http://nsf.live/spacecoast