It has been a big week for Blue Origin, first with the second launch of New Glenn, the successful landing of the first stage. As they were moving the first stage of last week’s New Glenn flight, the company casually made three major announcements today in one press release: a new, supersized New Glenn for megapayloads, ramping up the power output of its BE-4 and BE-3U engine used on the second stage of the current New Glenn, as well as the 9X4. It might be a while for the megarocket to be on the launch pad, but the engine advancements start arriving on the next New Glenn flight, NG-3.
Evolving Quickly
Blue announced a boost in engine performance across both stages, effective immediately. The seven BE 4 engines on the booster will now deliver about 4.5 million pounds of thrust, up from 3.9 million. On the stand, BE 4 has already hit 625,000 pounds of thrust with its current propellant setup and is on track to reach 640,000 later this year. Subcooling the propellant raises the engine’s output well above its previous 550,000 pound level.
Blue Origin said in their press release today that the improvements and upgrades will be phased into upcoming New Glenn missions beginning with NG-3. No firm launch date has been officially announced for NG-3.
The upper stage is getting a similar lift, also effective immediately. Its pair of BE-3U engines will move from a planned 320,000 pounds of thrust to roughly 400,000 over the next few flights. BE-3U has already shown
211,658 pounds on the test stand.
These performance gains directly support customers already booked to fly on New Glenn to low Earth orbit,
the Moon, and destinations beyond. Other vehicle updates include a reusable fairing for a higher
flight tempo, a redesigned tank that lowers manufacturing cost, and a new thermal protection system
that can be reused and cuts turnaround time.
Blue Origin Engine Thrust Comparison
| Engine variant | Propellants | Role on New Glenn | Thrust (lbf / MN) |
|---|---|---|---|
| BE-4 (original)1 | methalox | First-stage booster engine | 550,000 lbf / 2.45 MN |
| BE-4 (uprated)2 | methalox | First-stage booster engine (uprated) | 640,000 lbf / 2.85 MN |
| BE-3U (original)3 | hydrolox | Upper-stage engine (per engine) | 175,000 lbf / 0.78 MN |
| BE-3U (uprated upper stage)4 | hydrolox | Upper stage (two-engine total) | 400,000 lbf / 1.78 MN |
1 Original BE-4 thrust of 550,000 lbf per engine from Blue Origin’s New Glenn vehicle overview and BE-4/Vulcan delivery announcement.
2 Uprated BE-4 target thrust of 640,000 lbf per engine and booster total of about 4,500,000 lbf (seven engines) from Blue Origin’s “New Glenn Update” and BE-4 engine page.
3 Original BE-3U vacuum thrust of 175,000 lbf (throttleable to 140,000 lbf) from Blue Origin’s BE-3U engine page.
4 Upper-stage total thrust increasing from 320,000 lbf to 400,000 lbf for the two BE-3U engines combined from Blue Origin’s “New Glenn Update” news release.
Super-Heavy: The New Glenn 9X4
Blue Origin announced a super-heavy variant of its New Glenn family. Called New Glenn 9×4, with the name being a nod to the engine layout on each stage, it targets missions that need more lift and higher performance. When completed, it will be capable of lofting more than 70 metric tons into low Earth orbit, over 14 metric tons directly into geosynchronous orbit, and more than 20 metric tons on a translunar trajectory. The 9×4 will also carry a wider 8.7-meter fairing to accommodate jumbo payloads.
Both the 9×4 and the current 7×2 versions will operate in parallel, giving customers more flexibility across mission types, from mega-constellations to Artemis and deep space work to national security needs such as Golden Dome or larger NSSL payloads. Presumably, the new variant will also be built at Blue Origin’s factory in Exploration Park across from the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center.
“We aren’t disclosing a specific timeframe today. The iterative design from our current 7×2 vehicle means we can build this rocket quickly,” a Blue Origin spokesman said in response to timeline questions.
Whenever it flies, this megarocket is going to be a terrific sight to see. New Glenn is already picturesque in flight, and a larger, more powerful version shows promise of being just as beautiful.
