BE-3 Blue Origin

blue origin publicly announced development of blue engine 3, or be-3, in january 2013, engine had begun development in 2010s. be-3 new liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen (lh2/lox) cryogenic engine can produce 110,000 pounds-force (490 kn) of thrust @ full power, , can throttled down low 25,000 pounds-force (110 kn) use in controlled vertical landings.

early thrust chamber testing began @ nasa stennis in 2013.

by late 2013, be-3 had been tested on full-duration suborbital burn, simulated coast phases , engine relights, demonstrating deep throttle, full power, long-duration , reliable restart in single-test sequence. nasa has released video of test. of december 2013, engine had demonstrated more 160 starts , 9,100 seconds (2.5 h) of operation @ blue origin’s test facility near van horn, texas.

be-3 engine acceptance testing completed april 2015 450 test firings of engine , cumulative run time of more 500 minutes. be-3 engine powers new shepard space capsule being used blue origin suborbital flights began in 2015.

be-3u

the be-3u engine modified be-3 use on upper stages of blue origin orbital launch vehicles. engine include nozzle better optimized operation under vacuum conditions number of other manufacturing differences since expendable engine whereas be-3 designed reusability.