Blue Origin landing platform ship

Blue Origin landing platform ship (officially LPV[4]) is a roll-on/roll-off cargo ship owned by rocket and space technology company Blue Origin, purchased in 2018 for use as a floating landing platform for its New Glenn booster stage. As of late 2018, the ship is undergoing refit to prepare for its role of landing rockets.[5][6]

History
Name:
  • LPV 2018–present
  • Stena Freighter 2004–2018
  • Stena Seafreighter 2002–2004
  • RFA Sea Chieftain 1998–1999
  • Stena Hispanica 1997–1998
Owner:
Port of registry: Marshall Islands[1]
Builder:
Yard number: 1547[1]
Laid down: 19 February 1997[2]
Launched: 9 May 1998[2]
Completed: 12 March 2004[2]
Out of service: October 2018
Homeport: Majuro, Marshall Islands[1]
Identification:
Status: In yard for refit
General characteristics
Class and type:
Tonnage:
Length: 182.8 m (599.7 ft)[1]
Beam: 25.5 m (83.7 ft)[1]
Draft: 7.4 m (24.3 ft)[1]
Depth: 8.4 m (27.6 ft)[1]
Installed power:
Propulsion:
  • 2 × controllable-pitch propellers[1]
  • 2 × maneuvering thrusters[1]
Speed: 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)[3]

When the ship is used operationally for rocket landings—no earlier than 2021, since that is when Blue Origin is planning to make the first orbital launch of the New Glenn rocket[7]—it is expected that the rocket boosters will be recovered downrange of the launch site in the Atlantic Ocean via LPV while the hydrodynamically-stabilized ship is underway. The ship stabilization technology is designed to increase the likelihood of successful rocket recovery in rough seas, as well as helping to carry out launches on schedule.[8][9]

From 2004 to 2018, the ship was used in ferry service in Europe.[2]

History
Stena Freighter, 2006

Stena Freighter was built by Societa Esercizio Cantieri of Viareggio, Italy, and completed in 2004 by Elektromehanika d.o.o. at Kraljevica Shipyard, Croatia, for Swedish operator Stena Line.[1][3]

The ship was initially laid down in February 1997 as the Stena Hispanica for the Stena Line, but on 5 May 1998 was renamed RFA Sea Chieftain (A97) after the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) contracted with Stena for a long-term charter of the vessel for freight-carrying capacity to support the Joint Rapid Reaction Force. The ship was launched just four days later on 9 May.[2]

Societa Esercizio Cantieri had fallen into financial difficulties, and the contract for the ship was cancelled in 1998 due to delays in construction. At the time, work on the hull was complete and the ship 50 percent finished. The shipyard went bankrupt in 1999, and all work on the ship ceased.[2]

In 2002, "the incomplete vessel was purchased from a bankruptcy estate at auction by Stena Line" and renamed Stena Seafreighter. After months of additional financial and performance difficulties by several shipyards in Slovenia and Croatia in 2003, she was towed to Arsenale Shipyard in Venice, and then steamed under her own power to Kraljevica in Croatia for final completion. As a result of the delays, the ship "never sailed as a Royal Fleet Auxiliary" for the British MoD.[2] The ship was renamed Stena Freighter and delivered to Stena Line in March 2004.[2]

Stena Freighter operated on a number of ferry routes including Gothenburg–Travemünde, Gothenburg–Kiel, and the Harwich–Rotterdam (Europoort) service.[2]

Stena confirmed the sale of the vessel on 30 August 2018,[10] and in October Blue Origin, a U.S. launch service provider and space technology company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos,[11] confirmed it was the purchaser.[10][12][13] The vessel sailed to Florida and arrived at Pensacola later that month to commence a refit.[5][6] In March 2017 Blue Origin had unveiled the concept of landing a rocket on a hydrodynamically-stabilized ship that was underway,[9] but did not reveal which marine vessel would be used as the landing platform until October 2018.[14]

Future operations

Launches of the New Glenn launch vehicle are planned to be made from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 36, which was leased to Blue Origin in 2015.[15][13][16] The first stage boosters of New Glenn are intended to be reusable, and will be recovered downrange in the Atlantic Ocean via LPV. The hydrodynamically-stabilized ship increases the likelihood of successful recovery in rough seas.[9][8] Blue Origin plans to make the first orbital launch of New Glenn no earlier than 2021.[7]

See also

References
  1. "LPV (19270)". DNV GL Vessel Register. Det Norske Veritas. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  2. "Historical RFA : RFA Sea Chieftain". HistoricalRFA.org. Royal Fleet Auxiliary Historical Society. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  3. "Stena Freighter (IMO 9138795) - Ro-Ro Cargo Ship". Vessel Tracking. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  4. "LPV". Marine Traffic. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  5. Little, Jim (24 October 2018). "Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin ship to be used for rocket landings docked at Port of Pensacola". Pensacola News Journal. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  6. Tribou, Richard (24 October 2018). "Cargo ship for Blue Origin's New Glenn launches arrives to Florida". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  7. Boyle, Alan (10 October 2018). "Blue Origin resets schedule: First crew to space in 2019, first orbital launch in 2021". GeekWire. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  8. Burghardt, Thomas (20 September 2018). "Building on New Shepard, Blue Origin to pump a billion dollars into New Glenn readiness". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  9. Burns, Matt (7 March 2017). "Blue Origin reveals the 'New Glenn' takeoff and landing sequence in new video". TechCrunch. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  10. "Stena confirm the sale of Stena Carrier and Stena Freighter by Stena RoRo to unknown buyers". NI Ferry Site. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  11. "Top Executive Profiles – Jeffrey P. Bezos". Portfolio.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2009.
  12. Goenka, Himanshu (26 May 2018). "Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin Has Bought Landing Ship For New Glenn Rocket". International Business Times. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  13. Boyle, Alan (8 March 2016). "Jeff Bezos lifts curtain on Blue Origin rocket factory, lays out grand plan for space travel that spans hundreds of years". GeekWire. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  14. "Used Ro/Ro Will Become Blue Origin's Rocket Landing Pad". The Maritime Executive. 23 October 2018.
  15. Bergin, Chris (12 September 2016). "Blue Origin introduce the New Glenn orbital LV". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  16. Berger, Eric (6 October 2016). "Blue Origin just validated the new space movement". Ars Technica. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
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