![]() ![]() Smith said he expects the company’s other major construction project, Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, to be “mostly done” this year. Company officials estimated it would take three to four months to retire final technical risks with the engine before proceeding into final qualification tests.Ĭompletion of the factory is just one of many milestones for Blue Origin this year. The BE-4 engine, two of which will be used on the first stage of Vulcan and seven on the reusable first stage of New Glenn, is nearing the end of its development. The company expects to take two to three years to reach that production rate. Ultimately the factory will be able to produce 42 engines a year, split roughly evenly between the BE-4 and the BE-3U engine that will power the upper stage of New Glenn. Once the BE-4 production line is stabilized, Huntsville staff will be trained in Kent and then return to ramp up engine production in Huntsville. ![]() ![]() The company plans to transition production over a couple of years from Kent to Huntsville. Credit: SpaceNews/Jeff Foust Credit: SpaceNews/Jeff Foust Tooling and other production equipment will start arriving in the coming weeks, officials said. Credit: SpaceNews/Jeff Foust Credit: SpaceNews/Jeff Foust The interior of Blue Origin’s engine factory in Huntsville. The interior of Blue Origin’s engine factory in Huntsville. The first engines intended for flight will also be produced there. That work includes a series of engines used in testing and two “flight readiness” engines that Smith said in his remarks will be delivered to United Launch Alliance in May for integration on that company’s Vulcan rocket for testing. The factory should be ready to start building BE-4 engines this summer, starting with a “site certification” engine that will be fired at both at Blue Origin’s West Texas test site and a test stand at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center that the company is refurbishing.īlue Origin is currently building BE-4 engines at its headquarters in Kent, Washington. Employees will start moving into the factory this week, company officials said, with tooling and other equipment to start arriving in the coming weeks. While the building is complete, Blue Origin is not yet ready to start producing engines there. “Twelve months to actually build this kind of facility is an amazing accomplishment for our team.” “You can see we can get some things done really quickly,” said Bob Smith, chief executive of Blue Origin, in remarks at the ceremony. The factory, built in a little more than a year, will host more than 300 employees and produce up to 42 engines a year. 17 that the company plans to use to produce engines both for its vehicles and for United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket.Ī ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the completion of a 350,000-square-foot factory here that will produce BE-4 and BE-3U engines. Blue Origin formally opened a factory Feb. ![]()
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