Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket engine explodes during tests

Jeff Bezos’ Space company Blue Origin suffered a rocket engine explosion while testing its BE-4 rocket engine last month, CNBC has learned, a destructive setback with potential ramifications for the company’s customers as well as its own rocket. .

During a June 30 shooting at a Blue Origin facility in West Texas, a BE-4 engine detonated about 10 seconds after testing, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. Those people described seeing video of a dramatic explosion that destroyed the engine and severely damaged the dyno’s infrastructure.

The people spoke to CNBC on condition of anonymity to discuss non-public matters.

The engine that blew up was expected to finish testing in July. It was then scheduled to be shipped to Blue Origin customer United Launch Alliance for use in ULA’s second Vulcan rocket launch, those people said.

A Blue Origin spokesperson, in a statement to CNBC on Tuesday, confirmed that the company “had an issue while testing the Vulcan 3 flight engine.”

“No personnel were injured and we are currently evaluating the root cause,” Blue Origin said, adding that “we already have the proximate cause and are working on corrective actions.”

The company said it “immediately” informed its client ULA of the incident. ULA is the joint rocket construction company of Boeing and Lockheed-Martinwhich mainly competes with by Elon Musk SpaceX, especially going up against the most lucrative military launch contracts. CNBC also requested ULA’s comment on the incident.

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 customers’ launch needs,” Blue Origin added.

The BE-4 test failure threatens to further delay the already delayed first Vulcan launch, which was recently rescheduled for the fourth quarter this year, while Blue Origin examines the cause of the problem.

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

As the name of ULA’s “Cert” mission implies, the company needs to successfully launch two Vulcans to complete certification of the US Space Force rocket for operational flight. With ULA set to retire its currently operational Atlas V and Delta IV Heavy rockets, the company needs to get Vulcan certified as soon as possible to start flying homeland security missions.

Last month, the Space Force assigned SpaceX and ULA each six missions under the Homeland Security Space Launch Phase 2 program. ULA’s six NSSL missions are ready to fly on Vulcan. In addition, ULA is preparing to bid for Phase 3 contracts under the NSSL, with the Space Force welcomes more competition.

The Blue Origin 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, requiring ULA to partially disassemble the first Vulcan rocket to reinforce the upper stage that was already installed.

While ULA determined that the issue 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 fix is ​​sufficient before the company reinstalls an upgraded version.

Vulcan and New Glenn have a contract to fly satellites for another company founded by Bezos, Amazon. He highly successful commercial launch agreement 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.

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

Similarly, New Glenn was originally scheduled for its maiden flight in 2020. But delays have changed that schedule to unknown, and Blue Origin’s leadership in recent public appearances declined to comment on a new debut launch target for New. Glenn.

Blue Origin opened a major engine production facility 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 landing engine there, while it restores a larger NASA stand for BE-4 testing at its Texas test facility.