Blue Origin | Blue Origin BE-4 Engine Compilation @blueorigin | Uploaded September 2018 | Updated October 2024, 3 hours ago.
The BE-4 is our fourth-generation liquid rocket engine, made to take us into orbit and beyond.
The BE-4 uses oxygen-rich staged combustion of liquid oxygen and liquefied natural gas to produce 550,000 lbs. of thrust. Liquefied natural gas is commercially available, affordable, and highly efficient for spaceflight. Unlike other rocket fuels, such as kerosene, liquefied natural gas can be used to pressurize a rocket’s propellant tanks. This is called autogenous pressurization and eliminates the need for costly and complex pressurization systems, like helium. Liquefied natural gas also leaves no soot byproducts as kerosene does, simplifying engine reuse.
United Launch Alliance has selected Blue Origin’s BE-4 as the engine that will power the Vulcan rocket's first stage. The announcement ends the need for the Russian made RD-180 on their next-generation vehicle Vulcan with the American-made BE-4.
Here is ULA’s press release on the announcement: bit.ly/2xIoeGF
The BE-4 is our fourth-generation liquid rocket engine, made to take us into orbit and beyond.
The BE-4 uses oxygen-rich staged combustion of liquid oxygen and liquefied natural gas to produce 550,000 lbs. of thrust. Liquefied natural gas is commercially available, affordable, and highly efficient for spaceflight. Unlike other rocket fuels, such as kerosene, liquefied natural gas can be used to pressurize a rocket’s propellant tanks. This is called autogenous pressurization and eliminates the need for costly and complex pressurization systems, like helium. Liquefied natural gas also leaves no soot byproducts as kerosene does, simplifying engine reuse.
United Launch Alliance has selected Blue Origin’s BE-4 as the engine that will power the Vulcan rocket's first stage. The announcement ends the need for the Russian made RD-180 on their next-generation vehicle Vulcan with the American-made BE-4.
Here is ULA’s press release on the announcement: bit.ly/2xIoeGF
