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On February 14, 2020, Blue Origin opened a \u201chigh-rate engine production facility\u201d in Huntsville, Alabama for both the BE-4 and BE-3U engine. Nearby, the company is currently in the process of renovating test stand 4670 at NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center.<\/p>\n
Through an agreement with NASA, the company can use this previously unused test stand. This test stand once helped prove the F-1 engines of the Saturn V and the RS-25 Space Shuttle Main Engine and will be able to accommodate both a BE-4 and a BE-3U engine. <\/p>\n
The company is also in the process of developing the next \u201cblock upgrade\u201d of the BE-4. Blue Origin is expecting to be able to fly a BE-4 engine 25 times before major refurbishment.<\/p>\n
Developing BE-4 for Vulcan<\/p>\n
Space Shuttle models
<\/path>Space Shuttle <\/path>SpaceX <\/path>\n (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n
As well as adding to the company\u2019s capabilities and improving the reliability of their engines, stand 4670 and the engine production facility are both conveniently located near Decatur, Alabama, where United Launch Alliance produces their Atlas, Delta, and Vulcan rocket families. <\/p>\n
Blue Origin is in the unique position of not only developing BE-4 for New Glenn, but also for another launch vehicle: ULA\u2019s Vulcan.\n<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/NSF-2020-03-12-13-55-38-343.jpg\")
<\/p>\nULA\u2019s Vulcan Rocket \u2013 via NSF Artist Mack Crawford<\/p>\n
The company expects to deliver two \u201cflight readiness\u201d BE-4 engines to ULA this summer. These two engines will be attached to a Vulcan rocket for a hot-fire at SLC-41.<\/p>\n
ULA will not perform a static test of the Vulcan\u2019s engines before every flight\u2014this first test will be similar to the Space Shuttle\u2019s Flight Readiness Firing, where a short duration burn would be conducted on the pad before each orbiter\u2019s first flight.<\/p>\n
Manufacturing Hardware<\/p>\n
Inside of their manufacturing complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Blue Origin is working on the physical hardware that will make up New Glenn. <\/p>\n
The company has been producing barrel panels that are friction-stir welded into fuel tanks. Due to their size, these tanks are constructed in the high bay of their factory.<\/p>\n
Also of significance is the first 7 meter payload fairing half. Blue Origin constructs a fairing by vacuum bagging the carbon composite materials and using a massive oven to cure the carbon composites. Although vacuum bagging is a common technique for composites, it is a significant accomplishment for Blue Origin to successfully form such a large structure for the first time.<\/p>\n