Blue origin
On Wednesday, Washington-based aerospace company Blue Origin posted a job posting for the “Blue Ring Senior Program Manager” position. However, the post on the company’s Workday “Job Opportunities” page was removed less than 24 hours later, perhaps because it contained details about an advanced program the company is yet to discuss publicly.
When asked about the short-lived post, a spokesperson for Blue Origin told Ars on Friday, “We are updating the job posting for this position.”
For the time being, the vacancy will remain on LinkedIn. Although the application is now listed as “not accepting any more applications”, details about the job remain online. Intriguingly, the job posting states, “As a program manager, you lead the development, production, and operations of a multi-mission, multi-orbit platform.”
There are additional clues about the position in the job posting, including the following statement about how this job supports Blue Origin’s vision that millions of people live and work in space to benefit the Earth: “Enabling this future requires frequent and affordable access to a variety of jobs, as well as the ability to access infrastructure and services in those jobs. There is a critical need for small satellite rideshare and hosting solutions for commercial and government purposes.”
The significance of this is that it’s one of the first times the company has publicly discussed its Blue Ring program, albeit perhaps unintentionally given the rapid removal of the job posting.
According to two sources, Blue Ring is one of the projects being worked on at Blue Origin as part of the company’s advanced development programs. A number of these initiatives are intended to bolster Blue Origin’s forthcoming New Glenn rocket, a heavy-lift vehicle that could debut in 2024. These programs include Project Jarvis, which Ars first unveiled in July 2021, to develop a fully reusable upper stage for the launch vehicle.
Blue Origin has been working on New Glenn for nearly a decade. During that time, founder Jeff Bezos observed the development of SpaceX’s Starship program and recognized that New Glenn must evolve to compete with a fully reusable Starship. That is the goal of Project Jarvis and other initiatives.
While Blue Ring is not as spectacular as a fully reusable second stage, it could still be an important part of making New Glenn a viable commercial vehicle, not only for large government satellites but smaller satellites as well. The Blue Ring project combines two basic functions: an EELV Secondary Payload Adapter, or ESPA ring, and a space tug.
An ESPA ring is a structure mounted in the rocket’s payload area to support six or more smaller satellites, each weighing perhaps a few hundred pounds or less. This ring supports these smaller satellites as secondary customers, or rideshare customers, with power and possibly even propulsion during the launch and deployment process.
Screenshot of Blue Ring “Senior Program Manager” job posting.
Blue Origin is also trying to develop a space tug as part of its ESPA ring, which would allow companion satellites to reach orbits other than the rocket’s primary payload. Such “orbital transfer vehicle” services are becoming more common. For example, Launcher’s SN1 Orbiter vehicle flew on SpaceX’s Transporter 6 rideshare mission with eight different smallsat customers earlier this week, and Impulse Space announced this week that its first orbital transport vehicle will fly on a Falcon 9 rocket by the end of this year.
Given that New Glenn will have a large, 7-meter-wide fairing and impressive propulsion capabilities, Blue Ring will likely be able to accommodate much larger satellites than these smaller orbital transport vehicles. However, given Blue Origin’s tendency to remain silent about its advanced development program, don’t expect to hear more details about Blue Ring anytime soon.
