BE-4

The Blue Engine 4,^[3] or BE-4 is a large staged combustion rocket engine under development by Blue Origin.

The engine has been designed to produce 2,400 kilonewtons (550,000 lbf) of thrust. First flight is expected 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 the United Launch Alliance Vulcan launch vehicle, the successor to the Atlas V launch vehicle.

History

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.^[4] In September 2014—in a choice labeled "a stunner" by Space News^[5]—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.^[5]

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.^[6] 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.^[6]

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.^[7]

In January 2016, Blue announced that they intended to do full-engine testing of the BE-4 prior to the end of 2016.^[8]

Atlas V successor

In late 2014, Blue Origin signed an agreement with United Launch Alliance to co-develop the BE-4 engine, and to commit to use the new engine on the Vulcan launch vehicle, a successor to the Atlas V, and would replace the single RD-180 Russian-made engine.^[5] Vulcan will use two of the 2,400 kN (550,000 lbf) BE-4 engines on each first stage. The engine development program began in 2011.^[1][2][4]

The ULA partnership announcement came after months of uncertainty about the future of the Russian RD-180 engine that has been used in the ULA Atlas V rocket for over a decade. Geopolitical concerns had come about that created serious concerns about the reliability and consistency of the supply chain for the procurement of the Russian engine.^[9] ULA expects the first flight of the new launch vehicle no earlier than 2019.^[4][5]

As of February 2015, the BE-4 is in competition with the AR-1 engine for the Atlas V RD-180 replacement program. Unlike BE-4's methane engine, the AR-1, like the RD-180, is kerosene fueled.^[10]

XS-1 engining

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.^[11][12]

Availability and use

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.^[9]

Technical specifications

• Thrust: 2,400 kilonewtons (550,000 lbf) at full power^[4]

See also

• BE-3
• Comparison of orbital rocket engines

References