The 9.18th edition of Rocket Report covers Blue Origin’s plans for a new New Glenn kick stage and rocket engine design, the rebuilding of its damaged launch pad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and a minor, widely anticipated delay affecting the rocket’s return-to-flight mission in December and January. The report also examines Argo Space, a company founded by three former SpaceX engineers developing satellite propulsion based on water.
Blue Origin announced several developments in a single Thursday afternoon, including a new kick stage for its New Glenn rocket and a new engine design. The company is also rebuilding its destroyed launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida, nearly six months after a devastating explosion. Reconstruction is progressing rapidly as NASA, Amazon, and the US Space Force await the resumption of New Glenn flights.
As always, we welcome reader contributions. Readers can subscribe using the box below to avoid missing an issue; this form does not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site. Each report includes updates on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets, along with a summary of the next three launches on the calendar.
Former SpaceX engineers develop water-based satellite propulsion
Three brothers who worked at SpaceX during the Falcon 9 era are developing a satellite powered by water, a resource that can be harvested on the Moon and may be found throughout the solar system, according to Ars. The Carlyle brothers founded Argo Space in late 2022 to build infrastructure in space.
Their long-term goal is to reduce the need to launch propellants from Earth, both for reaching space and for transportation once in orbit. Argo Space’s satellites use water as a propellant, coolant, and radiation shield.
How the water propulsion system works
Argo Space flew its first mission in July, but the spacecraft failed when one of its solar arrays did not deploy. As a result, there was not enough time to test the propulsion system. The company has two additional missions scheduled for 2027 to demonstrate its water-based thrusters.
The propulsion system is essentially a small rocket that uses hydrogen and oxygen as propellants. Rather than carrying separate tanks of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, the satellite stores liquid water in a single tank. Once in space, solar energy splits the water into hydrogen and oxygen gases, which are then combusted to produce thrust.
Source: arstechnica.com