Blue Origin introduced a new heavy-lift rocket stage and a powerful first-stage engine on Thursday to cut manufacturing expenses while expanding payload capacity for geostationary orbit and lunar missions.
Dave Limp, chief executive officer of Blue Origin, told attendees at the Kennedy Space Center event called Up, according to Arstechnica. Summit that the company eventually aims to position the New Glenn rocket to launch more than 1,000 times a year.
Glenn Stage 3 Targets Lunar and Geostationary Orbits
Blue Origin stated in a blog post that the third stage designated GS3 enhances New Glenn’s capabilities,
adding that it enables direct deployment of satellite constellations to GEO [geostationary orbit] and supports heavy-lift science and exploration missions to the moon and deep space.
The new upper stage is designed for missions requiring direct injection to geostationary orbit and Earth-escape trajectories.
Payload capacity varies depending on the launch configuration. On the 9×4 vehicle—a super-heavy variant featuring nine first-stage BE-4 engines and four upper-stage BE-3Us—GS3 can deliver up to 14 metric tons to GEO and 20 metric tons to trans-lunar injection. On the standard 7×2 configuration, it supports up to 8 metric tons to GEO and 10 metric tons to TLI.
The stage utilizes the company’s BE-7 engine, which burns liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. While Blue Moon lunar landing missions will not require New Glenn to carry the third stage, the company noted that GS3 can support sustained operations around the moon.
Blue Origin stated that By delivering significant payload mass directly to trans-lunar injection (TLI), GS3 enables faster transit times while preserving propellant for on-orbit operations.
Testing for the upper stage is underway at Launch Site One in Texas, where engineers pressurized a liquid hydrogen tank for 2.5 hours at 100 percent of its Maximum Expected Operating Pressure. Blue Origin reported that The tank was also successfully pressurized to 150 percent of MEOP for 10 minutes,
noting that the component is expected to be the first composite LH2 tank ever flown in space. An unnamed government customer has already booked a GS3 mission to cislunar space targeted for 2028.
Northstar Booster Engine Aims for Lower Production Costs
Blue Origin introduced Northstar alongside the upper stage, presenting a new first-stage engine intended to eventually replace the BE-4 on New Glenn. Northstar burns a combination of liquid oxygen and liquefied natural gas through an oxygen-rich staged combustion cycle and a single-shaft turbopump architecture, retaining foundational elements of the company’s existing propulsion design.
Dave Limp said the company believes it can manufacture Northstar at 25 percent of the cost of a BE-4 engine and eventually assemble each unit in less than a day. Compared to the BE-4, which produces 640,000 pounds-force of thrust, Northstar delivers 715,000 pounds-force while cutting overall mass by 30 percent and reducing the parts count by 50 percent. More than 65 percent of the engine relies on large-scale additive manufacturing.
The company will continue manufacturing the BE-4 for United Launch Alliance, which uses two of the engines to power its Vulcan rocket. Blue Origin moved the engine from program approval to development testing in 11 months and has already begun a test-firing campaign.