Note: Only forum leaders may delete posts.
*HTML is ON *UBB Code is ON Smilies Legend
Smilies Legend
[i]Although the company's website still shows New Glenn with a second stage powered by a reignitable version of the BE-4 it is developing to power the main stage of both New Glenn and United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket, that configuration is now out of date. A Blue Origin executive told SpaceNews the company is shelving development of a vacuum-optimized version of BE-4 and will instead use vacuum-optimized versions of flight-proven BE-3 engines for New Glenn's second stage and optional third stage. "We've already flown BE-3s, and we were already in the development program for BE-3U as the third stage for New Glenn," said Clay Mowry, Blue Origin's vice president of sales, marketing and customer experience. "It made a lot of sense for us to switch to an architecture where we get there faster for first flight." The BE-3U is the upper stage variant of the liquid hydrogen-fueled BE-3 engine that has powered Blue Origin's reusable New Shepard spacecraft on six suborbital test flights since its 2015 debut.[/i]
Contact Us | The Source for Space History & Artifacts
Copyright 1999-2024 collectSPACE. All rights reserved.