Structural, Avionics, Reusability, Recovery Enhancements To Be Phased In

Blue Origin announced that its New Glenn rocket will be getting new, more powerful engines along with enhancements to it structures, avionics, reusability, and recovery operations. The upgrades to New Glenn will be implemented in phases beginning with its upcoming NG-3 mission.

The engines on both stages will have improved performance that will increase payload capacity and launch cadence as well as enhance reliability.

The seven BE-4 engines in the first stage will have an increase of total thrust from 3.9 million lbf (17,291 kN) to 4.5 million lbf (19,928 kN). The individual BE-4 engine has demonstrated an increase in thrust on the test stand from the current 550,000 lbf to 625,000 lbf with a further increase to 640,000 lbf expected later this year.

The two BE-3U engines that power the upper stage of New Glenn will see an increase in total thrust from 320,000 lbf (1,423 kN) to 400,000 lbf (1,779 kN). It has displayed 211,658 lbf on the test stand.

The next advancement in New Glenn will be a super-heavy class rocket. With the current version of New Glenn being the 7x2 (the number of engines in each stage), the next variant will be New Glenn 9x4. It will be able to carry more than 70 metric tons to LEO, low-Earth orbit, 14 metric tons direct to geosynchronous orbit, and over 20 metric tons to trans-lunar injection.

Blue Origin expects both variants to serve the market concurrently to provide customers more options for launch missions. Those would include mega-constellations, lunar and deep space exploration, and national security objectives such as Golden Dome.

FMI:  www.blueorigin.com/