Jacklyn (ship)

Jacklyn[4]—formerly known as the Blue Origin landing platform ship or, officially in 2018–2020, as LPV[5]); and before that, Stena Freighter, Stena Seafreighter, RFA Sea Chieftain, and Stena Hispanica—is a landing platform ship being refit in 2018–2020 from a former roll-on/roll-off cargo ship. The ship is owned by rocket and space technology company Blue Origin, and was purchased in 2018 for use as a floating landing platform for Blue's New Glenn rocket booster stage. Since 2018 the ship has been undergoing refit to prepare for its role of landing rockets.[6][7][4]

Ship outline when in service for Stena Line, 2002–2018
History
Name:
  • Jacklyn 2020–present
  • LPV 2018–2020
  • Stena Freighter 2004–2018
  • Stena Seafreighter 2002–2004
  • RFA Sea Chieftain 1998–1999
  • Stena Hispanica 1997–1998
Owner:
Port of registry: Majuro, Marshall Islands 2018–present[1]
Builder:
Yard number: 1547[1]
Laid down: 19 February 1997[2]
Launched: 9 May 1998[2]
Completed: 12 March 2004[2]
Acquired: 2018
Maiden voyage: 2004
Out of service: October 2018
Renamed: December 2020
Refit: 2018–2020
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:
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[8]—it is expected that the rocket boosters will be recovered downrange of the launch site in the Atlantic Ocean via Jacklyn 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.[9][10]

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

History
Stena Freighter, 2006
Jacklyn, 2021

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,[11] and in October Blue Origin, a U.S. launch service provider and space technology company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos,[12] confirmed it was the purchaser.[11][13][14] The vessel sailed to Florida and arrived at Pensacola in October 2018 to commence a refit.[6][7] In March 2017 Blue Origin had unveiled the concept of landing a rocket on a hydrodynamically-stabilized ship that was underway,[10] but did not reveal which marine vessel would be used as the landing platform until October 2018.[15]

In December 2020, LPV was officially renamed Jacklyn, after Jeff Bezos' mother Jacklyn Bezos.[4]

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.[16][14][17] 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.[10][9] The ship will not be crewed at the time the New Glenn booster is landing; it will be autonomously or telerobotically controlled.[18]

In October 2018, Blue Origin said that their plans were to make the first orbital launch of New Glenn in 2021.[8]

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. "Ahoy, Jacklyn! Jeff Bezos names Blue Origin's rocket recovery ship after his mom". GeekWire. 29 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  5. "LPV". Marine Traffic. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  6. Little, Jim (24 October 2018). "Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin ship to be used for rocket landings docked at Port of Pensacola". Pensacola News Journal. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  7. Tribou, Richard (24 October 2018). "Cargo ship for Blue Origin's New Glenn launches arrives to Florida". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  8. Boyle, Alan (10 October 2018). "Blue Origin resets schedule: First crew to space in 2019, first orbital launch in 2021". GeekWire. Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  9. Burghardt, Thomas (20 September 2018). "Building on New Shepard, Blue Origin to pump a billion dollars into New Glenn readiness". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  10. Burns, Matt (7 March 2017). "Blue Origin reveals the 'New Glenn' takeoff and landing sequence in new video". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 25 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  11. "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.
  12. "Top Executive Profiles – Jeffrey P. Bezos". Portfolio.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2009.
  13. Goenka, Himanshu (26 May 2018). "Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin Has Bought Landing Ship For New Glenn Rocket". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 25 November 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  14. 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. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  15. "Used Ro/Ro Will Become Blue Origin's Rocket Landing Pad". The Maritime Executive. 23 October 2018. Archived from the original on 7 July 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  16. Bergin, Chris (12 September 2016). "Blue Origin introduce the New Glenn orbital LV". NASASpaceFlight.com. Archived from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  17. Berger, Eric (6 October 2016). "Blue Origin just validated the new space movement". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 7 August 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
  18. Mowry, Clayton (17 September 2018). Spring Meetings 2017 - GNF "A step by step approach to low-cost access to space". International Astronautical Federation. Event occurs at 42:45. Retrieved 18 September 2018 – via YouTube.
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