- Jeff Bezos’ aerospace company Blue Origin suffered a rocket engine explosion while testing its BE-4 rocket engine last month, CNBC has learned.
- A June 30 fire at Blue Origin’s West Texas plant exploded a BE-4 engine about 10 seconds into testing.
- A Blue Origin spokesman confirmed the incident, noting that no personnel were injured and that an investigation was ongoing and an “immediate cause” was being determined.
A test of a BE-4 engine at the company’s Launch Site One facility in west Texas on August 2, 2019.
Blue Origin
A Blue Origin rocket engine exploded during testing last month, CNBC learned, a devastating setback with potential consequences for the company’s customers as well as its own rocket.
In a June 30 fire at a facility owned by Jeff Bezos’ space company in west Texas, a BE-4 engine exploded about 10 seconds after the test began, according to several people familiar with the matter. These individuals reported seeing video of a dramatic explosion that destroyed the engine and severely damaged test bed infrastructure.
The individuals spoke to CNBC on condition of anonymity to discuss non-public matters.
Tests of the exploded engine should be completed in July. It then plans to supply it to Blue Origin customer United Launch Alliance for use in ULA’s second Vulcan rocket launch, those people said.
A spokesman for Blue Origin confirmed in a statement to CNBC on Tuesday that the company “encountered an issue while testing Vulcan’s Flight Engine 3.”
“No personnel were injured and we are currently determining the root cause,” Blue Origin said, adding, “We already have a proximate cause and are working on remedial actions.”
The company said it “immediately” alerted its customer ULA to the incident. ULA is the Boeing-Lockheed Martin rocket-making joint venture that competes primarily with Elon Musk’s SpaceX — especially in the neck-and-neck race for the most lucrative military launch contracts.
Blue Origin also said it will be able to “continue to test” the engines in West Texas. The company previously built two stands for the tests.
“This year we will be able to meet our engine delivery commitments and stay ahead of our customers’ go-to-market requirements,” added Blue Origin.
The failure of the BE-4 test threatens to further delay the already delayed first Vulcan launch – which was recently pushed back to the fourth quarter of this year – while Blue Origin investigates the cause of the problem.
Each Vulcan rocket launches with two BE-4 engines. ULA waited longingly for the delivery of the first set for years. A month ago, ULA completed a major milestone in preparation for the first Vulcan launch, known as “Cert-1,” with a brief static fire test of the rocket using the first pair of BE-4 aero engines.
In a statement to CNBC, a ULA spokesman said, “The BE-4 testing issue is not expected to impact our plans for the Vulcan Cert-1 mission.” The company noted that the engines for Cert-1 “the have successfully passed the acceptance test” and are qualified for the start.
The Vulcan rocket for the Cert-1 mission stands at SLC-41 during testing May 12, 2023 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
United Starting Alliance
As ULA’s “Cert” mission name implies, the company must successfully launch two Vulcans to complete the US Space Force’s certification of the rocket for operational flights. As the ULA will retire its currently operational Atlas V and Delta IV Heavy missiles, the company needs to certify Vulcan as soon as possible in order to begin flying national security missions.
Last month, Space Force awarded SpaceX and ULA six missions each as part of the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 program. All six of the ULA’s NSSL missions are scheduled to fly on Vulcan. Additionally, ULA is preparing a tender for Phase 3 contracts under NSSL, with the Space Force welcoming increased competition.
Blue Origin’s BE-4 incident came after ULA spent three months investigating its own test blast. In March, a separate part of the rocket — the so-called upper stage — exploded during a structural test, requiring ULA to partially disassemble the first Vulcan rocket to reinforce the upper stage already installed.
While ULA found the issue to be fairly easy to fix, it is currently testing changing the thickness of the upper stage’s steel walls to ensure the solution is sufficient before the company reinstalls an improved version.
While Blue Origin needs to ensure that BE-4 works well and rolls off the assembly line for its key customer, the company also needs the engines for its own reusable New Glenn rocket, which is in development.
While Vulcan uses two BE-4 engines, each New Glenn rocket requires seven BE-4 engines – meaning Blue Origin has to produce dozens a year to support both rockets.
Vulcan and New Glenn are both under contract to fly satellites for another company Bezos founded, Amazon. Under the Blockbuster commercial launch deal, Amazon ordered 38 Vulcan launches and up to 27 New Glenn launches to fly its Project Kuiper internet satellites over the next few years.
Blue Origin also plans to use New Glenn to fly the lunar lander it is developing under a $3.4 billion NASA contract.
A mass simulator version of a New Glenn rocket will be transported for testing in November 2021.
Blue Origin
BE-4, the heart of Blue Origin’s rocket engines, was due for completion in 2017, but a variety of development issues meant the company only recently completed the first flight-ready engines.
Similarly, New Glenn’s maiden flight was originally scheduled for 2020. But delays have meant that timeline is unknown, with Blue Origin leadership declining to comment on a new launch target for New Glenn in recent public appearances.
Blue Origin opened a large engine manufacturing facility in Huntsville, Alabama in 2020 and has expanded its facilities in the region to approximately 1 million square feet. NASA has leased engine test rigs at Marshall Space Flight Center to Blue Origin. The company is testing its smaller BE-7 lunar landing engine there while it is restoring a larger NASA stand for BE-4 testing at its Texas test facility.