Blue Origin built two larger and redundant test stands to follow, capable of testing the full thrust of the BE-4. There was an explosion on the test stand during 2015 during powerpack testing. The tests were used to confirm the theoretical model predictions of "injector performance, heat transfer, and combustion stability", and data collected was being used to refine the engine design. īy September 2015, Blue Origin had completed more than 100 development tests of several elements of the BE-4, including the preburner and a " regeneratively-cooled thrust chamber using multiple full-scale injector elements". The company planned to begin full-scale engine testing in late 2016 and expected to complete development of the engine in 2017. The second program was testing subscale versions of the engine's injectors. One program was testing full-scale versions of the BE-4 powerpack, which are the set of valves and turbopumps that provide the proper fuel/oxidizer mix to the injectors and combustion chamber. Blue Origin said the "BE-4 would be 'ready for flight' by 2017." īy April 2015, two parallel development programs were under way. In September 2014-in a choice labeled "a stunner" by SpaceNews -the large launch vehicle manufacturer and launch service provider United Launch Alliance selected the BE-4 as the main engine for a new primary launch vehicle. This was their first engine to combust liquid oxygen and liquified natural gas propellants. īlue Origin began work on the BE-4 in 2011, although no public announcement was made until September 2014. Meyerson announced the selection of Huntsville, AL as the location of Blue Origin's rocket production factory in June 2017. Blue Origin publicly entered the liquid rocket engine business by partnering with ULA on the development of the BE-4, and working with other companies. History įollowing Aerojet's acquisition of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne in 2012, Blue Origin president Rob Meyerson saw an opportunity to fill a gap in the defense industrial base. Pathfinder engines are currently undergoing testing at ULA facilities, and the first two flight engines were delivered to ULA for integration with the Vulcan Centaur rocket on October 31st, 2022. ![]() The engine is running three years behind as of August 2022, and Blue Origin has experienced a number of problems, both technical and managerial, with the engine development program, leaving the engine still not yet flight-qualified. Īlthough previously planned to fly as early as 2019, the first flight test of the new engine is now expected no earlier than 2023 on the Vulcan rocket. ![]() Final engine selection by ULA happened in September 2018. However, it was announced in 2014 that the engine would also be used on the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle, the successor to the Atlas V launch vehicle. It was initially planned for the engine to be used exclusively on a Blue Origin proprietary launch vehicle New Glenn, the company's first orbital rocket. The engine has been designed to produce 2.4 meganewtons (550,000 lbf) of thrust at sea level. ![]() The BE-4 is being developed with private and public funding. The Blue Engine 4 or BE-4 is an oxygen-rich liquefied-methane-fueled staged-combustion rocket engine under development by Blue Origin.
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