Blue Origin, the private space company run by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has today shown off the latest rocket engine that will carry out future orbital missions. A series of images for the very first fully-assembled BE4 rocket engine was shared by Bezos on Twitter this Monday evening. This is a significant development for the company as it has been hard at work building this engine for the last 6 years.
1st BE-4 engine fully assembled. 2nd and 3rd following close behind. #GradatimFerociter pic.twitter.com/duE4Tnzvkx
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) March 6, 2017
Bezos, the founder and CEO of Blue Origin, took to the micro-blogging site to make the mass populous aware of this achievement. He also gave us another look at the BE4 rocket engine, this time while it was being towed around in its “transport cradle.” The tweets also continue to add that it is the first rocket which has been fully assembled and a couple more are in the works. This engine is now most likely being carried out to the company’s test facilities to conduct further trials and check up on the competencies of this new engine.
Here’s one more shot of BE-4 in its transport cradle. pic.twitter.com/T2HdZ3UtQZ
— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) March 6, 2017
These BE4 engines, seven of them, will form the power source for Blue Origin’s upcoming New Glenn reusable rocket system. The said rocket, very much like the New Shephard, will be capable of propelling the payload to low orbit with the first stage making a return and landing back on the ground. The company has already demonstrated such successful landings, similar to those conducted by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket engine.
The New Glenn is a massive rocket, which is 23 feet in diameter and ranges from 270 feet to 313 feet tall, is set to take its maiden flight sometime this year. Once the said rocket takes flight, the thrust exerted by it (5.1 million pounds at seas level) will surpass Blue Origin’s previous Delta IV Heavy by a significant margin. Thus, New Glenn will have enough power to carry heavy payloads and astronauts into the orbit without hiccups.
Further, Blue Origin has just recently expressed its desire to set up an ‘Amazon-like’ delivery service to the lunar surface by 2020. The increased focus on cheaper Moon missions under the Trump administration has pushed the private space company to circulate their plan’s blueprint among the top brass of NASA and the government. Bezos is not only looking to stock up supplies on the south pole of the Moon but also set up an inhabitable shelter (or base) for future expeditions.
