Some details have emerged about Blue Origin’s “Blue Ring” project

On Wednesday, Washington-based space company Blue Origin posted a job titled “Blue Ring Senior Program Manager.” However, the company’s post on his Workday “Careers” page was removed less than 24 hours later. This is probably because it contained details about advanced programs that the company didn’t want to discuss publicly yet.

Asked about the short-term posting, a spokesperson for Blue Origin told Ars on Friday, “We are updating our vacancies for this position.”

For now, job postings are still live on LinkedIn. The job is currently marked as ‘not accepting applications’, but job details remain online. Interestingly, the job posting states, “As a program manager, you will lead the development, manufacturing and operations of multi-mission, multi-orbital platforms.”

Additional clues about the position of the job posting, including the following statement on how this job supports Blue Origin’s vision of benefiting the planet with millions of people living and working in space. there is. Ride-sharing and hosting solutions for small satellites for commercial and government purposes, as well as the ability to access infrastructure and services in orbit, are much needed. “

The significance of this is that it represents one of the first public discussions of the Blue Ring program by the company, albeit perhaps inadvertently given the rapid removal of the job posting.

Blue Ring is one of several projects Blue Origin is working on as part of the company’s Advanced Development Programs, according to two sources. Many of these initiatives aim to power Blue Origin’s upcoming New Glenn rocket, a heavy-duty transport vehicle that could debut in 2024. launch vehicle.

Blue Origin has been working on New Glenn for nearly a decade. Meanwhile, founder Jeff Bezos has observed the development of his Starship program at SpaceX, and he has realized that New Glenn must evolve in order to compete with his fully reusable Starship. did. That’s what Project Jarvis and other initiatives are for.

The Blue Ring, while less spectacular than a fully reusable second stage, could be a key component in making New Glen a viable commercial vehicle for government large satellites as well as smaller ones. There is a nature. The Blue Ring project combines two of his basic functions: the EELV secondary payload adapter (ESPA ring) and space tags.

The ESPA ring is a structure attached to the payload area of ​​the rocket that supports six or more small satellites, each weighing no more than a few hundred kilograms. The ring supports these small satellites as secondary or rideshare customers, providing power and possibly even propulsion during the launch and deployment process.

Blue Origin is also developing a space tug as part of the ESPA ring. This would allow the ride-along satellite to reach a different orbit than the rocket’s main payload. Such “orbital mobile” services are becoming increasingly popular. For example, Launcher’s SN1 Orbiter vehicle flew with eight different smallsat customers on SpaceX’s Transporter 6 rideshare mission earlier this week, and Impulse Space announced this week that the company’s first orbital transfer vehicle will fly on a Falcon 9 rocket later this year. announced to fly.

Given New Glenn’s large 7-meter-wide payload fairing and good propulsion, Blue Ring could potentially accommodate much larger satellites than these smaller orbital transfer vehicles. However, given Blue Origin’s tendency to keep quiet about its advanced development programs, don’t expect to hear more about Blue Ring anytime soon.