BE-3

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The Blue Engine 3 or BE-3 is a reusable liquid rocket engine from the US company Blue Origin . The BE-3 uses liquid hydrogen as fuel and liquid oxygen as an oxidizer . A thrust of up to 490 kN at sea level is achieved.

use

Blue Origin has been using the engine in its suborbital New Shepard rocket since 2015 . It not only contributes to the launch into space, but also to the vertical landing on earth. In the larger New Glenn , the BE-3 will also be used in a modified form (BE-3U) in the 3rd stage.

The engine was also in the running for use in the upper stage of the planned Vulcan rocket of the United Launch Alliance but lost it to the RL10 from Aerojet Rocketdyne .

history

The development of the BE-3 follows directly on the first engine developments by Blue Origin (BE-1 and BE-2). However, these were still based on peroxides and kerosene as an oxidizer and fuel. The BE-3 is therefore the first engine developed by Blue Origin that is powered by water and oxygen.

In January 2013, Blue Origin officially announced the development of the BE-3. At that time, 440 kN thrust was planned. Initial tests of the combustion chamber should already mid-February at the Stennis Space Center of NASA begin.

BE-3 test

At the end of 2013, the engineers then simulated a complete suborbital flight with the BE-3. It achieved full power, a longer burn time, switching off and restarting the engine, as well as a strong throttling of the power for landing.

After this test, Blue Origin changed the engine's specifications: It turned out that the BE-3 can generate up to 490 kN of thrust instead of 440 kN. The minimum power has now been specified as 110 kN. The company announced the final specifications in April 2015. Now the engine should even be able to be throttled to only 89 kN. This low thrust is special on the BE-3. It is required for the controlled landing of the rocket after the flight.

In April 2015, the tests were completed after more than 450 ignitions and around 500 minutes of burning time. In the same month the New Shepard took off for the first time with the BE-3 as the engine. The rocket reached a height of 93.5 km. However, the planned landing failed. The engine worked flawlessly on further New Shepard flights.

The development of the BE-3 was thus completed. Blue Origin announced that it would build a version of the engine that is adapted for use in the vacuum of space . This variant is called the BE-3U.

In January 2016, Orbital ATK received at least US $ 46.9 million from the US Air Force , including for the development of a nozzle for the BE-3U.

Web links

Commons : BE-3 (rocket engine)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Engines. In: blueorigin.com. Blue Origin Inc., accessed June 10, 2018 .
  2. ^ New Shepard. In: blueorigin.com. Blue Origin Inc., accessed June 10, 2018 .
  3. ^ New Glenn. In: blueorigin.com. Blue Origin Inc., accessed June 10, 2018 .
  4. ↑ Loren Grush: ULA picks an engine for its next generation rocket - just not the main one. In: theverge.com. Vox Media, May 11, 2018, accessed June 10, 2018 .
  5. ^ Jeff Foust: Updates on commercial crew development, "NewSpace Journal. In: Newspacejournal.com. January 17, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2018 (American English).
  6. ↑ a b Doug Messier: Blue Origin Tests New Engine in Simulated Suborbital Mission Profile. In: Parabolicarc.com. December 3, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2018 (American English).
  7. ^ A b Jeff Foust: Blue Origin Completes BE-3 Engine as BE-4 Work Continues. In: SpaceNews.com. April 7, 2015, accessed June 10, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Jeff Foust: Blue Origin's New Shepard Vehicle Makes First Test Flight. In: SpaceNews.com. April 29, 2018, accessed June 10, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Blue Origin | Our Approach to Technology. In: blueorigin.com. Blue Origin Inc., January 10, 2018, archived from the original on January 10, 2018 ; accessed on June 10, 2018 .
  10. ↑ Mike Gruss: Orbital ATK, SpaceX Win Air Force Propulsion Contracts. In: Spacenews.com. January 13, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2018 (American English).
  11. ↑ Contracts For Jan. 13, 2016. In: Defense.gov. Department of Defense, January 13, 2016, accessed June 10, 2018 (American English).