One among Blue Origin’s powerful BE-4 rocket engines suffered a dramatic failure during testing last month, in keeping with CNBC.
The BE-4 — the engine that can power Blue Origin’s Latest Glenn rocket and United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Vulcan Centaur — exploded about 10 seconds into the test, which Blue Origin conducted at its West Texas facility on June 30, CNBC’s Michael Sheetz reported on Tuesday (July 11).
People aware of the anomaly “described having seen video of a dramatic explosion that destroyed the engine and heavily damaged the test stand infrastructure,” Sheetz wrote.
The engine was being prepped to fly on the second launch of Vulcan Centaur, Sheetz wrote. Blue Origin confirmed that detail, in addition to the testing incident, in an announcement sent to CNBC.
“No personnel were injured, and we’re currently assessing root cause,” Blue Origin representatives said, in keeping with Sheetz. Investigators have already determined the proximate reason behind the anomaly “and are working on remedial actions,” the statement added.
Blue Origin added that it immediately made ULA aware of the incident. And the latter company — a three way partnership of Boeing and Lockheed Martin — doesn’t appear to view it as a significant problem for the time being.
The BE-4 has already been qualified for flight, meaning its overall design is sound, ULA President and CEO Tory Bruno stressed via Twitter on Tuesday. The engine that failed on June 30 was undergoing an “acceptance test” (APT), which looks for issues with individual units before flight. (There are other steps along this path as well, including “hot fire” tests of fully integrated engines on the launch pad.)
“ATP failures are usually not unusual. That is why we do them on each serial number that comes off the road,” Bruno said in one other Tuesday tweet.
Many parts on a rocket, individual ATP failures not unusual (why we do it). We analyze each for potential crossover, as a discipline. Many other BE4s have passed ATP & gone on to hot fire. This one had failed an earlier ATP attempt & was reworked. Keep your powder dry for now.July 11, 2023
ULA has been coping with problems with its own on Vulcan Centaur. The heavy lifter was imagined to debut in early May, on a mission that can send the private Peregrine lander toward the moon. But that focus on date was pushed back after a Centaur upper stage exploded during testing at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center on March 29.
It’s unclear when the brand new rocket will get off the bottom. Late last month, the corporate said it could destack the primary Vulcan Centaur and send the upper stage back to its factory in Alabama for modifications.
We must always learn more soon: Bruno is scheduled to seek advice from reporters about Vulcan Centaur on Thursday (July 13).
Latest Glenn, the opposite big rocket that the BE-4 will power, also has yet to fly. Its debut was originally targeted for 2020, but delays within the BE-4’s development have pushed that timeline to the suitable repeatedly. Blue Origin has recently declined to supply a brand new goal date, as Sheetz noted.