articles

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket engine explodes during testing

Space-News.io

Jul 11, 2023 • 6 min read

Credit Cards

Loans

Banking

Mortgages

Insurance

Credit Monitoring

Personal Finance

Small Business

Taxes

Help for Low Credit Scores

Investing

SELECT

All Credit Cards

Find the Credit Card for You

Best Credit Cards

Best Rewards Credit Cards

Best Travel Credit Cards

Best 0% APR Credit Cards

Best Balance Transfer Credit Cards

Best Cash Back Credit Cards

Best Credit Card Welcome Bonuses

Best Credit Cards to Build Credit

SELECT

All Loans

Find the Best Personal Loan for You

Best Personal Loans

Best Debt Consolidation Loans

Best Loans to Refinance Credit Card Debt

Best Loans with Fast Funding

Best Small Personal Loans

Best Large Personal Loans

Best Personal Loans to Apply Online

Best Student Loan Refinance

SELECT

All Banking

Find the Savings Account for You

Best High Yield Savings Accounts

Best Big Bank Savings Accounts

Best Big Bank Checking Accounts

Best No Fee Checking Accounts

No Overdraft Fee Checking Accounts

Best Checking Account Bonuses

Best Money Market Accounts

Best CDs

Best Credit Unions

SELECT

All Mortgages

Best Mortgages

Best Mortgages for Small Down Payment

Best Mortgages for No Down Payment

Best Mortgages with No Origination Fee

Best Mortgages for Average Credit Score

Adjustable Rate Mortgages

Affording a Mortgage

SELECT

All Insurance

Best Life Insurance

Best Homeowners Insurance

Best Renters Insurance

Best Car Insurance

Travel Insurance

SELECT

All Credit Monitoring

Best Credit Monitoring Services

Best Identity Theft Protection

How to Boost Your Credit Score

Credit Repair Services

SELECT

All Personal Finance

Best Budgeting Apps

Best Expense Tracker Apps

Best Money Transfer Apps

Best Resale Apps and Sites

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) Apps

Best Debt Relief

SELECT

All Small Business

Best Small Business Savings Accounts

Best Small Business Checking Accounts

Best Credit Cards for Small Business

Best Small Business Loans

Best Tax Software for Small Business

SELECT

All Taxes

Best Tax Software

Best Tax Software for Small Businesses

Tax Refunds

SELECT

All Help for Low Credit Scores

Best Credit Cards for Bad Credit

Best Personal Loans for Bad Credit

Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit

Personal Loans if You Don't Have Credit

Best Credit Cards for Building Credit

Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower

Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lower

Best Mortgages for Bad Credit

Best Hardship Loans

How to Boost Your Credit Score

SELECT

All Investing

Best IRA Accounts

Best Roth IRA Accounts

Best Investing Apps

Best Free Stock Trading Platforms

Best Robo-Advisors

Index Funds

Mutual Funds

ETFs

Bonds

A Blue Origin rocket engine exploded during testing last month, CNBC has learned, a destructive setback with potential ramifications for the company's customers and its own rocket.

During a firing on June 30 at a West Texas facility of Jeff Bezos' space company, a BE-4 engine detonated about 10 seconds into the test, according to several people familiar with the matter. Those people described having seen video of a dramatic explosion that destroyed the engine and heavily damaged the test stand infrastructure.

The people spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic matters.

The engine that exploded was expected to finish testing in July. It was then scheduled to ship to Blue Origin's customer United Launch Alliance for use on ULA's second Vulcan rocket launch, those people said.

A Blue Origin spokesperson, in a statement to CNBC on Tuesday, confirmed the company ran into an issue while testing Vulcan's Flight Engine 3.

No personnel were injured and we are currently assessing root cause, Blue Origin said, adding we already have proximate cause and are working on remedial actions.

The company noted it immediately made its customer ULA aware of the incident. ULA is the rocket-building joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, which competes primarily with Elon Musk's SpaceX, especially going head-to-head over the most lucrative military launch contracts.

Sign up here to receive weekly editions of CNBC's Investing in Space newsletter.

Blue Origin also said it will be able to continue testing engines in West Texas. The company previously built two stands for the tests.

We will be able to meet our engine delivery commitments this year and stay ahead of our customer's launch needs, Blue Origin added.

BE-4's test failure threatens to further push back the already-delayed first Vulcan launch — which was recently rescheduled to the fourth quarter of this year — while Blue Origin examines the cause of the problem.

Each Vulcan rocket uses a pair of BE-4 engines to launch. ULA waited anxiously for years to receive delivery of the first set. A month ago, ULA completed a key milestone in preparation for the first Vulcan launch, known as Cert-1, with a short static fire test of the rocket using the first pair of BE-4 flight engines.

In a statement to CNBC, a ULA spokesperson 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 successfully passed acceptance testing and are qualified to launch.

As ULA's Cert mission name implies, the company needs to launch two Vulcans successfully to complete the U.S. Space Force's certification of the rocket for operational flights. With ULA set to retire its currently operational rockets, Atlas V and Delta IV Heavy, the company needs Vulcan to be certified as soon as possible to begin flying national security missions.

Last month, Space Force assigned SpaceX and ULA each with six missions under the National Security Space Launch Phase 2 program. All six of ULA's NSSL missions are set to fly on Vulcan. Additionally, ULA is preparing to bid for Phase 3 contracts under NSSL, with the Space Force welcoming heightened competition.

Blue Origin's BE-4 incident comes after ULA spent three months investigating its own test explosion. In March, a separate part of the rocket, known as the upper stage, exploded during a structural test and required ULA to partially disassemble the first Vulcan rocket to reinforce the upper stage that was already installed.

While ULA determined the problem would be fairly easy to fix, it is now testing a change to the thickness of the upper stage's steel walls to ensure the solution is sufficient before the company reinstalls an improved version.

At the same time that Blue Origin needs to get BE-4 working well and humming off the production line for its main customer, the company also needs the engines for its own reusable New Glenn rocket that's in development.

While Vulcan uses two BE-4 engines, each New Glenn rocket requires seven BE-4 engines, meaning Blue Origin needs to produce dozens a year to support both rockets.

Vulcan and New Glenn are both under contract to fly satellites for another Bezos-founded company, Amazon. The blockbuster commercial launch deal saw Amazon order 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's developing under a $3.4 billion NASA contract.

BE-4, the centerpiece of Blue Origin's stable of rocket engines, was supposed to be ready by 2017, but a myriad of development issues has meant the company only finished the first flight-ready engines recently.

Similarly, New Glenn was originally slated for its inaugural flight in 2020. But delays have changed that timeline to unknown, with Blue Origin leadership in recent public appearances declining to comment on a new debut launch target for New Glenn.

Blue Origin opened a major engine production factory in Huntsville, Alabama, in 2020, and has expanded its facilities in the area to about 1 million square feet. NASA leased engine test stands at the Marshall Space Flight Center to Blue Origin. The company tests its smaller BE-7 lunar lander engine there, while restoring a larger NASA stand for BE-4 testing at its testing facility in Texas.

Got a confidential news tip? We want to hear from you.

Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services.

Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis.

Data also provided by