No! bluShift’s fuel is non-toxic and nearly carbon-neutral. What’s more, it’s not water-soluble.

No, we are in the process of accepting proposals for at least a 50,000 square-foot facility to accommodate a fixed aeronautical manufacturing workspace building. Over the next 7 to 10 years, bluShift Aerospace plans to expand that facility up to 300,000 square feet.

In particular, the company is seeking areas of the state where there are nascent talents in welding, composites, machining and manufacturing to provide labor for bluShift Aerospace’s manufacturing facility.

An informational workshop for interested towns will be held on June 6, 2022 and RFI submissions are due no later than 5 PM June 20, 2022.

A single MAREVL 2.0 engine, which powers the Starless Rogue suborbital rocket, holds about 600 lbs of solid fuel.

Our Red Dwarf orbital rocket is expected to use up to 8 MAREVL 2.0 engines across two rocket stages, or about 4800 lbs of fuel in total.

Complete Preliminary Design of Starless Rogue Beta

Complete Test Campaign of MAREVL 2.0 Engine

Manufacture Starless Rogue Beta

Secure a Lift Boat, and Launch and Loading locations

Complete Integrated Static Test of MAREVL 2.0 in Starless Rogue Beta

Launch Starless Rogue Beta At Wallops, VA

Receive NASA Flight Opportunities Certification

Complete lift boat loading infrastructure and launch pad modifications to the lift boat

Establish mission control center

Launch Starless Rogue Beta from offshore downeast site

Complete Manufacturing Facility

bluShift seeks access to the Gulf of Maine via an industrial/commercial marine-based pier or jetty for loading the liftboat with the rocket and pulling the used rocket off of the retrieval boat after launch.

bluShift also seeks a protected mooring area where the liftboat can be stationed when not being actively used for launch.

The manufacturing plant and the pier can be in different towns.

For suborbital launch there will be an exclusion zone of roughly 1600ft radius around the launch site, and a downrange corridor.

For orbital launch there will be an exclusion zone of roughly 7300ft radius around the launch site, and a downrange corridor.

For each launch, the exclusion zone will be in effect for anywhere between half an hour and two hours.

By launching on Sundays between Memorial and Labor Day, and in the evenings, bluShift can minimize its impact on fishing near the launch site.

Nearby communities will know weeks in advance when a launch will be, and when the exclusion zone will be in effect for up to 2 hours.

In September and October bluShift will launch in the late evening and early night, when commercial traffic will be at its lowest.

In the winter bluShift will not launch from Maine, since the jet stream is too strong at that time of year.

bluShift will at maximum launch 8 suborbital and 24 orbital missions per year, ramping up to full cadence over roughly 8-10 years.

In the early stages of our growth, we will only be launching suborbital payloads that will return to earth in a matter of minutes.

When we begin launching to orbit, we predict that the majority of our customers will be miniature satellites that only orbit for months before safely falling apart in the atmosphere, not creating space junk.

Once we get to the point that we can achieve higher orbits that last for years, we may be a part of the solution by launching satellites that clean up space junk.

About 15-20 miles offshore.

After two straw polls yielded strong anti-launch site sentiment in the community, and with time becoming critical as we prepared to launch our next rocket, we decided to look at existing sites farther south for our first launch.

In the future we plan to launch from our home state of Maine.

We don’t think of them as competing industries. The goal is to share the water just like existing industries currently do!

By launching on Sundays between Memorial and Labor Day, and in the evenings, bluShift can minimize its impact on fishing near the launch We will announce weeks in advance when a launch will be, and when the exclusion zone will be in effect for up to 2 hours.

Our Stardust prototype rocket was only cleared to fly about a mile above the ground at Loring.

To launch higher we need a more remote site. To launch to orbit, we need to fly the rockets over the ocean.

bluShift will need to hire 150-200 people over the next 7-10 years.

Yes, but finding a large undeveloped area with no populated areas to the south (the direction we’d launch in) would be very difficult.

Launching from a lift boat means distance from the mainland, populated islands, and even most boat and air traffic.

We’re an affiliate of the Maine Space Grant Consortium and Sascha sits on the steering committee for the Maine Space Initiative which wrote the legislation for the Maine Space Corporation.

We are fully in support of an aerospace future for Maine, especially if it benefits Maine companies first. Currently we plan to operate our own dedicated small launch site, independent of the launch site proposed by the Corporation.

bluShift needs welders, composites specialists, and electricians. After speaking with numerous folks who have many of the skills we are looking for ranging from welding to composites experience, we were surprised by how many people already had the basic skills we’re looking for.

We fully expect that there will be additional on-site and professional training to further hone the skills to our specific manufacturing needs.

The simplest way to do this is to launch at sea, over the sea. Our current plan to launch from a lift boat at least 2 miles offshore will achieve this.

Additionally each rocket will carry a flight termination system that will cut power to the engine if the rocket goes off course, making sure that it falls inside the exclusion zone.

We will also work closely with the Federal Aviation Administration, which enforces and monitors commercial space transportation to ensure the safety of people and property.

We are budgeting an average of $75k in compensation for these jobs, where the average per capita income is a third that for Washington County as a whole.

Initially our rockets will likely be more metal than composites. Then, as we lightweight the vehicles, more and more composites will be used.

The very first Starless Rogue (beta) is expected to be a nearly all-metal airframe. Future vehicles’ components will be made more and more lightweight using composites.

Manufacturing will be a combination of completely new builds and refurbishment of previously used rockets, depending on the recovery rates and reusability of components.

Currently the maximum quantity planned, including for launches in different parts of the country, would eventually max out at 36 per year.

A handful of organizations that have the specific capability of performing an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) that will comply with FAA regulations.

At this time (6/3/22) bluShift has not chosen which organization it will use.

At this time we are unsure what mechanism there is by the federal government for continued oversight of the environmental impact.

However any time we make alterations to our propellants or even go from a suborbital to orbital class vehicle, the environmental impact study has to be updated.

bluShift plans to invest heavily in scaling up its manufacturing, launch operations, and R&D over the course of 5-7 years.

We expect to be cash flow positive within seven years.