Blue Origin announced several upgrades to its New Glenn rocket on Thursday that will take effect as soon as the launcher’s next flight.
The changes—announced just a week after Blue made history as the second rocket company to land an orbital booster—are aimed at boosting performance, increasing launch cadence, and making the platform more reliable, according to a press release.
Rev your engines: Engines on both stages of New Glenn will get a tune-up. The total thrust for the seven BE-4 booster engines on the rocket’s first stage will increase from 3.9M lbf to 4.5M lbf. The two upper stage BE-3Us will also get more power, increasing from total thrust of 320,000 lbf to 400,000 lbf.
Enter New Glenn 9×4: Blue Origin also unveiled its plans for a new super-heavy class rocket in the New Glenn family: the New Glenn 9×4 (so named because it will have nine engines on the first stage, and four on the second). The rocket is expected to be able to launch:
- 70+ metric tons to LEO
- 14+ metric tons to GEO
- And 20+ metric tons to trans-lunar injection.
The New Glenn 9×4 gives Blue a rocket that can play in a similar class to SpaceX’s Starship as the two billionaire-backed launchers compete to lead America’s return to the Moon.
Get back in the game: Blue is also implementing some updates to get New Glenn back on the pad faster after a mission, including a reusable fairing, lower-cost tank, and enhanced thermal protection to boost reusability and cut the time it takes to get ready to fly again.
