Rocket engine development Blue Origin

1 rocket engine development

1.1 be-3

1.1.1 be-3u


1.2 be-4
1.3 pusher escape motor

rocket engine development
be-3

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.

be-4

blue origin began work on new , larger rocket engine in 2011. new engine, blue engine 4, or be-4, change blue origin in first engine combust liquid oxygen , liquid methane propellants. engine has been designed produce 2,400 kilonewtons (550,000 lbf) of thrust, , planned used exclusively on blue origin proprietary launch vehicle. blue origin did not announce new engine public until september 2014.

in late 2014, blue origin signed agreement united launch alliance co-develop be-4 engine, , commit use new engine on upgraded atlas v launch vehicle, replacing single rd-180 russian-made engine. new launch vehicle use 2 of 2,400 kn (550,000 lbf) be-4 engines on each first stage. engine development program began in 2011.

ula expects first flight of new launch vehicle—the vulcan—no earlier 2019.

pusher escape motor

blue origin developed pusher escape motor suborbital crew capsule.

in late 2012, blue origin performed full-scale flight test of escape system on full-scale suborbital capsule.