manager blue origin rocket engine program

#Manager blue origin rocket engine program full#

Therefore, this story attempts to provide some context for why the BE-4 engines are late. Finally, many in the space community are genuinely curious about the cause of the delay.ĭespite this widespread interest, however, Blue Origin has said almost nothing publicly about the engine development. They hope Vulcan provides lower cost launch services with engines manufactured in the United States. The military is also eager for this delivery, as ULA is a primary provider of launch services to the Department of Defense alongside SpaceX. This is partly because ULA has been working on its new Vulcan rocket for a number of years, and that rocket is important to the future of the company. The BE-4's delayed development has, increasingly, been the subject of keen interest. At the time of this initial agreement, Blue Origin said the BE-4 would be 'ready for flight' by 2017. But with the BE-4 engine, Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos was promising a relatively low-cost, high performing engine with a power output comparable to a Space Shuttle main engine. It was a bold bet by ULA, a blueblood in space launch, on a new entrant to the market. United Launch Alliance, or ULA, first agreed to buy the engines from Blue Origin back in 2014. This delivery has been a long time coming.

#Manager blue origin rocket engine program full#

And in order to make this deadline, Blue Origin plans to take the somewhat risky step of shipping the engines to its customer before completing full qualification testing. The company aspires to deliver these two flight engines to United Launch Alliance before the end of this year, although that increasingly appears to be a 'stretch' goal. Further Reading Behind the curtain: Ars goes inside Blue Origin’s secretive rocket factory