In more recent years, the company's orbital Space Vehicle project was one of several concepts competing under NASA's commercial crew program to fly astronauts to the International Space Station. Since its founding in 2000, Blue Origin has worked so quietly to develop its manned spacecraft technology that it earned a reputation for secrecy while achieving major milestones, such as a stunning 2006 test flight of a prototype vertical-launch and -landing craft. Meyerson said the first tests of a BE-4 rocket engine should begin in 2016 and be complete by 2017. Blue Origin is developing the BE-4 engine to power ULA's new rocket, the Next-Generation Launch Vehicle. Jeff Bezos unveiled the BE-4 rocket engine last September during an event that announced a partnership between Blue Origin and the U.S.-based launch provider United Launch Alliance (ULA).
The company is also developing an upper-stage variant of the BE-3 engine, called the BE-3U, for use on a future orbital vehicle, he said.Įven as Blue Origin moves forward with the BE-3 engine and New Shepard spacecraft, the company is also making progress on its next rocket engine: the BE-4. Meyerson added that Blue Origin will make the BE-3 engine commercially available for vehicles beyond its own New Shepard, which is named in honor of Alan Shepard, the first American to reach space. A reusable booster powered by Blue Origin's BE-3 rocket engine will launch the spacecraft from the company's West Texas proving grounds, and then return to make a land-based landing. The New Shepard spacecraft is designed to launch a crew capsule carrying at least three astronauts or passengers on suborbital flights that reach over 62 miles (100 kilometers) in altitude - the boundary of space, Meyerson said. "We're not releasing a flight date yet, but it will be later this year," Meyerson said in a teleconference. The shakedown cruises are aimed at testing the performance and reusability of the commercial launch system's BE-3 rocket engine, which Blue Origin has cleared for suborbital flight. Providing strategic counsel to Blue Origin’s senior leadership, General Hyten will help steer the company on its way to space.Blue Origin, the secretive private spaceflight company founded by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, will begin suborbital flight tests this year of an innovative new spaceship - a milestone made possible by the firm's rocket engine success.īlue Origin president Rob Meyerson told reporters today (April 7) that the company will fly unmanned suborbital tests of its New Shepard spacecraft later in 2015. To kick this off, he will join the Launch to Learning STEM Forum and meet with school superintendents and administrators. His aim will be to empower students to become the scientists, engineers, and explorers of the future. Air Force.Īs Executive Director for Club for the Future, General Hyten will focus on community outreach and engagement activities. Strategic Command. He is the former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and just recently retired after 40 years in the U.S. His assignments included leading the Air Force Space Command and the U.S. General Hyten has decades of experience as a space operations and acquisitions officer. – General John Hyten (Ret.) has been named as Executive Director for Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, and as a Strategic Advisor to senior leadership, the company said.
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