Blue Origin Completes Hot Fire Test for New Glenn’s Second Stage

Blue Origin has performed an important step in the development of the New Glenn rocket by successfully completing the hot fire test of the second stage, ahead of the first launch scheduled for November 2024 from Launch Complex SLC-36 at Cape Canaveral.

*Footage of the New Glenn’s Second Stage hot fire test. Credits: Blue Origin*

This performance served to demonstrate the capabilities of the stage and the two BE-3U engines that propel it, whose mission will be to carry the Blue Ring technology as its first payload.

Blue Ring is a spacecraft platform designed by Blue Origin engineers to support spacecraft operations such as refueling, transporting, and hosting satellites.

Second Stage Hot Fire Test

This performance, of the duration of 15 seconds, was the first time this second stage had been tested as an integrated system along with the two BE-3U engines, a variant of the BE-3 engines that propel New Shepard, Blue Origin’s suborbital rocket. As it comes with all the ground tests in the field of space propulsion, this event allowed the launch operations team the opportunity to practice the procedures that will be carried out on launch day and verify the correct timing that needs to be performed during the most critical operations.

Water, smoke, and fire from three angles today. GS2 hotfire complete! https://t.co/DUeh6F8Jws pic.twitter.com/qUjxu52XGI
— Blue Origin (@blueorigin) September 23, 2024

Moreover, the test was also performed to analyze three main systems which are the tank pressurization control system, which uses helium to maintain pressure in the liquid hydrogen and oxygen tanks during flight; the thrust control system, which directs the engines to drive the rocket; and finally, the correct start-up and shutdown sequence of the BE-3U engines, capable of re-igniting up to three times in a mission.

New Glenn Vehicle

The New Glenn is a rocket developed by Blue Origin and designed for commercial and government space missions. Standing over 320 feet (98 meters), it has a reusable first stage powered by seven BE-4 engines, which use liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquid oxygen, making them among the most powerful engines of this type.

*The first stage of the New Glenn rocket. Credits: Blue Origin*

As specified before, Blue Origin also produces the BE-3U engines for the rocket’s second stage, which are designed for high-energy missions in low earth orbit (LEO), medium Earth orbit (MEO), and geosynchronous orbit (GEO). The stage is 88 feet (26.8 meters) tall with a diameter of 23 feet (7 meters).

Each engine was designed and engineered to express up to 160,000 lbf of vacuum thrust, but in the recent test, it performed at 173,000 lbf, making them some of the highest thrust-to-weight ratio hydrogen engines ever flown.