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This page is about the Blue Origin BE-4. For the Brazilian Be4, see Brazilian destroyer escort Bracui (Be4). For the Soviet KOR-2 reconnaissance flying boat, see Beriev Be-4. For the pre-WWI British biplane, see Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.4.
Blue Engine 4
Country of originUnited States
ManufacturerBlue Origin
PredecessorBE-3[1]
Liquid-fuel engine
Propellantliquid oxygen / liquid methane
Cyclesingle-shaft oxygen-rich staged combustion[2]
under development
Performance
Thrust2,400 kN
Chamber pressure13,400 kPa (1,950 psi)
Used in
Vulcan

The Blue Engine 4,[3] or BE-4 is a booster stage staged combustion rocket engine under development by Blue Origin. The BE-4 is being developed with private funding,[4] the engine is "being developed without any government assistance."[5] The engine has been designed to produce 2,400 kilonewtons (550,000 lbf) of thrust and is expected to fly no earlier than 2019.

Although it was initially planned to be used exclusively on a Blue Origin proprietary launch vehicle, it is currently planned that the engine will also be used on United Launch Alliance's Vulcan launch vehicle. The BE-4 is being developed with private funding.[4][5]

History[edit]

Blue Origin began work on the BE-4 in 2011. The new engine marks a change for Blue Origin in that this is their first engine that will combust liquid oxygen and liquid methane propellants. Blue Origin did not announce the new engine to the public until September 2014.[6] In September 2014—in a choice labeled "a stunner" by Space News[7]—the large US launch vehicle manufacturer and launch service provider United Launch Alliance selected the Blue BE-4 as the main engine for a new primary launch vehicle.[7]

As of April 2015, the engine development work was being carried out in two parallel programs. One program is testing full-scale versions of the BE-4 powerpack, the set of valves and turbopumps that provide the proper fuel/oxidizer mix to the injectors and combustion chamber. The second program is testing subscale versions of the engine's injectors.[8] Also in early 2015, the company indicated it is planning to begin full-scale engine testing in late 2016, and that they expected to complete development of the engine in 2017.[8]

As of September 2015, Blue had completed more than 100 development tests of several elements of the BE-4, including the preburner and a "regeneratively-cooled thrust chamber using multiple full-scale injector elements." The tests were used to confirm the theoretical model predictions of "injector performance, heat transfer, and combustion stability" and data collected is being used to refine the engine design.[9] There was an explosion on the test stand during 2015 during powerpack testing. Blue built two larger and redundant test stands to follow, capable of testing the full 550,000 lbf (2,400,000 N)-thrust of the BE-4.[10]

In January 2016, Blue announced that they intended to begin testing full engines of the BE-4 on ground test stands prior to the end of 2016.[11] Following a factory tour in March 2016, journalist Eric Berger noted that a large part of "Blue Origin’s factory has been given over to development of the Blue Engine-4."[4]

Potential applications[edit]

Atlas V successor[edit]

In late 2014, Blue Origin signed an agreement with United Launch Alliance to co-develop the BE-4 engine for ULA's Atlas V successor, the Vulcan launch vehicle. The partnership announcement came after months of uncertainty about the future of the Atlas V's Russian RD-180 main engine in light of increasingly tense US-Russian relations.[12] Vulcan's first stage will use two BE-4 engines, replacing the single RD-180 used on the first stage of the Atlas V.[7] ULA expects the first flight of the new launch vehicle no earlier than 2019.[6][7]

In addition to the partnership with Blue Origin, ULA partnered with Aerojet Rocketdyne to develop the AR1 engine as a backup to the BE-4. The AR1 burns the same fuel as the RD-180 but would require more time and funding to complete than the BE-4.[1][6] ULA expected to make a final selection between the BE-4 and AR1 in 2016 or 2017.[13]. Blue Origin CEO Jeff Bezos has noted that ULA switching to the AR1 would require significant delays and money on the part of ULA,[5] and ULA’s engineering vice president, Brett Tobey, stated that the BE-4 is expected to cost 40 percent less than the AR1. Tobey additionally noted that the BE-4 has Bezos' financial backing and personal commitment to completing the engine's development, while Aerojet Rocketdyne is depending mainly on support from the U.S. government to complete the AR1.[14]

In February 2016, the US Air Force issued a contract to provide funding of US$45.8 million to ULA in order to support use of the BE-4 engine on Vulcan.[15] Under the terms of the contract, ULA provided an additional US$40.8 million. Options in the contract provide up to US$202 million in total funding to ULA, with a corresponding required ULA investment of US$134 million.[15] The US Air Force also awarded Aerojet Rocketdyne a contract to provide up to US$536 million to develop the AR1, which would require Aerojet Rocketdyne to invest up to US$268 million.[15]

XS-1 engining[edit]

After Boeing secured the contract to design and build the DARPA XS-1 reusable spaceplane, the company, in partnership with Blue Origin, is expected to consider a modified derivative of the BE-4 to provide power for the craft. The XS-1 would utilize the engine to provide the considerable thrust necessary to accelerate to hypersonic speed at the edge of the earth's atmosphere, thereby enabling its payload to achieve escape velocity.[16][17]

Availability and use[edit]

Blue Origin has indicated that they intend to make the engine commercially available, once development is complete, to companies beyond ULA, and also plans to utilize the engine in Blue Origin's own new orbital launch vehicle.[12] As of March 2016, Orbital ATK is also evaluating Blue engines for its launch vehicles.[4]

Although all early BE-4 components and full engines to support the test program were built at Blue's headquarters location in Kent, Washington, the location for production of the BE-4 had not yet been determined by 2016. Testing and support of the reusable BE-4s will occur at the company's orbital launch facility at Exploration Park in Florida, where Blue is investing more than US$200 million in facilities and improvements.[5]

Technical specifications[edit]

The BE-4 is designed for long life and high reliability, partially by aiming the engine to be a " medium-performing version of a high-performance architecture."[4]

  • Thrust: 2,400 kilonewtons (550,000 lbf) at full power[6]
  • Chamber pressure: 13,400 kilopascals (1,950 psi), substantially lower than the 26,000 kilopascals (3,700 psi) of the RD-180 engine the ULA wants to replace[4]
  • Designed for reusability[4]
  • Design life: 25 launches and landings[4]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Achenbach, Joel (2014-09-17). "Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin to supply engines for national security space launches". Washington Post. Retrieved 2014-09-27.
  2. ^ "Breaking News | ULA taps Blue Origin for powerful new rocket engine". Spaceflightnow.com. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  3. ^ Alan Boyle (17 September 2014). "Bezos vs. Musk: Blue Origin and ULA Turn Up the Heat in Rocket Battle". NBC News.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Berger, Eric (2016-03-09). "Behind the curtain: Ars goes inside Blue Origin's secretive rocket factory". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  5. ^ a b c d Price, Wayne T. (2016-03-12). "Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin could change the face of space travel". Florida Today. Retrieved 2016-03-13.
  6. ^ a b c d Ferster, Warren (2014-09-17). "ULA To Invest in Blue Origin Engine as RD-180 Replacement". Space News. Retrieved 2014-09-19.
  7. ^ a b c d Gruss, Mike (2015-04-24). "Evolution of a Plan : ULA Execs Spell Out Logic Behind Vulcan Design Choices". Space News. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  8. ^ a b Foust, Jeff (7 April 2015). "Blue Origin Completes BE-3 Engine as BE-4 Work Continues". Space News. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  9. ^ "Blue Origin Completes More Than 100 Staged-Combustion Tests in Development of BE-4 Engine". Blue Origin. 20 September 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  10. ^ de Selding, Peter B. (2016-03-16). "ULA intends to lower its costs, and raise its cool, to compete with SpaceX". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2016-03-19. [Blue Origin] did blow up one of their engines on the test stand ... restart the engine ... head pressure start of the turbine ... [Blue] blew up a powerpack under test ... [Bezos] opened up his checkbook, ... need to rebuild test stand, move up to 500 k powerpack for the Vulcan BE-4 engine; not one but two test stands ... agility to ... write with own checkbook is just refreshing
  11. ^ Berger, Brian (2016-01-23). "Launch. Land. Repeat: Blue Origin posts video of New Shepard's Friday flight". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2016-01-24. Also this year, we'll start full-engine testing of the BE-4
  12. ^ a b Foust, Jeff (2014-09-22). "Commercial crew and commercial engines". The Space Review. Retrieved 2014-10-01.
  13. ^ Mike Gruss (27 February 2015). "Timing of Russian Engine Ban Puts ULA, Air Force, in a Bind". Space News. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  14. ^ Foust, Jeff (2016-03-17). "ULA VP resigns following remarks on company's competitive position, strategy". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  15. ^ a b c http://www.defense.gov/News/Contracts/Contract-View/Article/682238
  16. ^ "2014/07/15 Work Commences on Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1) Designs". Darpa.mil. 2014-07-15. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  17. ^ David Axe (2015-08-03). "Pentagon Preps for Orbital War With New Spaceplane". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2015-08-03.

External links[edit]

Category:Blue Origin rocket engines Category:Rocket engines using methane propellant Category:Rocket engines Category:Spaceflight

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