Blue Origin breaks ground on Huntsville engine production facility
Full rate production of Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine is expected to begin at the Huntsville, Ala., U.S. manufacturing facility in 2020.
Blue Origin (Kent, Wash., U.S.) celebrated the official groundbreaking for its new rocket engine production facility on Jan. 25 in Huntsville, Ala., U.S.
Blue Origin was selected by United Launch Alliance (ULA) in September of 2018 to supply its next-generation Blue Engine 4, or BE-4, for the first stage of ULA’s Vulcan Centaur Rocket.
Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine is said to be the most powerful liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueled rocket engine ever developed. Using an oxygen-rich staged combustion cycle, BE-4 is capable of producing 2,447 kN (550,000 lbf) thrust with deep throttle capability. BE-4 is currently undergoing full-scale engine development testing in company facilities in Van Horn, Texas, U.S. Full rate production will take place in Blue Origin’s new engine manufacturing facility in Huntsville, Ala., U.S. The Huntsville manufacturing plant is expected to open in 2020, and the first flight test of the new engine is expected in 2021.
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