Blue Origin announce upgrades to New Glenn ahead of Flight 3

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Blue Origin has unveiled upgrades to its New Glenn rocket, aimed at boosting payload capacity, launch frequency, and overall reliability. These enhancements come on the heels of two successful missions earlier this year, with the second including a maiden landing for the booster.

The upgrades, which include more powerful engines and advanced reusability features, are set to be integrated starting with the third flight (NG-3), promising even greater performance as Blue Origin prepares to head into an increased launch cadence next year.

This year saw two flights of New Glenn, with NG-1 lifting off on January 16 from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Powered by seven BE-4 engines, the vehicle successfully reached orbit, demonstrating the rocket’s baseline capabilities in a certification flight that paved the way for operational missions.

Although the first stage was not recovered in this initial test, the launch validated key systems and set the stage for reusability in subsequent flights.

Building on that success, the second mission, NG-2, launched on November 13 from the same complex. This flight carried NASA’s ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) twin spacecraft, designed to study Mars’ magnetosphere and solar wind interactions.
*Click here for a collection of epic NSF New Glenn prints in super high quality*

The payloads were precisely deployed into their intended trajectory toward Lagrange Point 2, fulfilling Blue Origin’s first major NASA science mission.

A highlight of NG-2 was the flawless landing of the reusable first-stage booster on the droneship “Jacklyn” at sea, making Blue Origin only the second company—after SpaceX—to achieve such a feat with an orbital-class rocket.

The recovery operation showcased the booster’s controlled descent and precise touchdown, with the single BE-4 engine showing impressive control authority via its TVC (Thrust Vector Control) system to slide the booster almost horizontally from the sea to the deck of the barge for a smooth touchdown.

This success also advances Blue Origin’s path toward certification for National Security Space Launch (NSSL) missions, which is one of the company’s most sought-after external contracts, along with its already-associated HLS (Human Landing System) aspirations.

Blue Origin’s upgrades focus on propulsion as a cornerstone for enhanced performance. The seven BE-4 engines on the booster stage will see their total thrust increase from 3.9 million pounds-force (17,219 kN) to 4.5 million pounds-force (19,928 kN).

This may also see a change in what is an extremely slow lift off from the pad during the initial seconds of launch, as observed on the first two launches, via improved TWR (Thrust to Weight Ratio).

Recent test stand demonstrations have already pushed individual BE-4 engines to 625,000 pounds-force under current conditions, with plans to reach 640,000 pounds-force later this year through propellant subcooling—up from the existing 550,000 pounds-force baseline.

Similarly, the upper stage’s two BE-3U engines are being upgraded from an original design thrust of 320,000 pounds-force (1,423 kN) to 400,000 pounds-force (1,779 kN) over the coming missions. Test firings have confirmed capabilities exceeding 211,000 pounds-force per engine, ensuring reliable performance for demanding trajectories.

Blue Origin engine development is primarily for its New Glenn rocket, but also for United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan Centaur. Development began in 2011, with testing at facilities in Van Horn, Texas; Kent, Washington; and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama.

According to Blue Origin, these propulsion improvements are focused on enabling missions to low-Earth orbit, the Moon, and beyond with greater efficiency. Additional enhancements include a reusable payload fairing to support higher launch cadences, a cost-optimized tank design, and an advanced thermal protection system that enhances reusability and shortens turnaround times.

In a forward-looking move, Blue Origin also introduced a super-heavy variant called New Glenn 9×4—named for its nine booster engines and four upper-stage engines. However, this is not the rumored “New Armstrong,” which is understood to be a three stage super heavy variant in its own right.

This announced configuration is tailored for high-capacity missions, capable of delivering over 70 metric tons to low-Earth orbit, more than 14 metric tons directly to geosynchronous orbit, and over 20 metric tons to trans-lunar injection. It will feature an expanded 8.7-meter fairing for larger payloads.

The 9×4 will operate alongside the current 7×2 variant, offering customers flexible options for mega-constellations, lunar exploration, deep space probes, and critical national security payloads like the Golden Dome initiative.

Lead image: Blue Origin render.

The post Blue Origin announce upgrades to New Glenn ahead of Flight 3 appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.



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