Things aren't looking too good for a certain American-produced rocket engine, according to the US Government Accountability Office - and it isn't SpaceX's Merlin.
The June GAO Weapon Systems Annual Assessment report to Congress [PDF] makes grim reading for fans of billionaire-built space stuff. Noted by NASAWatch, the section of the report concerning the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) was clear about the challenges faced by a "US-produced rocket engine under development for ULA's Vulcan launch vehicle."
[...] The first stage, however, is also due to be powered by a pair of BE-4 engines, manufactured by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. These have yet to see action on the way to orbit. As well as ULA's new launcher, the engines also power Blue Origin's New Glenn, the maiden flight of which has been punted to the end of 2022.
The GAO report noted the "technical challenges" were related to "the igniter and booster capabilities required" and that there was a risk of qualification not being complete in time. The result could be a switch back to trusty Atlas V, which carries its own problems.
This news is two weeks stale, but oh well.
See also: GAO's annual review of DoD programs raises concerns on space launch, missile warning satellites
With ULA's new rocket Vulcan behind schedule, Space Force agrees to let Atlas 5 fill in
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With further delays to BE-4 rocket engine, Vulcan may not make 2022 debut
Blue Origin is unlikely to deliver two flight-ready versions of the BE-4 rocket engine to United Launch Alliance (ULA) before at least the second quarter of 2022, two sources say. This increases the possibility that the debut flight of ULA's much-anticipated new rocket, Vulcan, could slip into 2023.
Vulcan's first stage is powered by two BE-4 engines, which burn methane and are more powerful than the space shuttle's main engines. The sources said there recently was a "relatively small" production issue with fabrication of the flight engines at Blue Origin's factory in Kent, Washington.
As a result of this, the engines will not be completed and shipped to the company's test stands in West Texas until next year. Once there, each engine must be unpacked, tested, and then re-configured to be moved to ULA's rocket assembly facility in northern Alabama. A reasonable "no-earlier-than" date for the engines' arrival at the rocket manufacturer is now April 2022, and this assumes a smooth final production and testing phase.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 24 2021, @01:00AM
For an extra $12.99 a month, they could have gotten Blue Origin Prime service with next-day delivery.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 24 2021, @01:02AM (1 child)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 24 2021, @01:58AM
You know, maybe the real truth is that the bird doesn't exist, because it's actually a CIA drone.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 24 2021, @02:17AM (1 child)
Hopefully this lemon rocket engine is what is going to propel Jeff Bezos to his spectacular low earth orbit death.
(Score: 3, Touché) by takyon on Thursday June 24 2021, @02:23AM
Nah.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Shepard [wikipedia.org]
It uses the "BE-3" engine, and has been flown 15 times, mostly successfully.
Less than one month to go...
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 24 2021, @03:28AM
The bird is okay even though he doesn't understand the world. You're that bird looking at the monitor, and you're thinking to yourself, "I can figure this out." Maybe you have some bird ideas. Maybe that's the best you can do.
The bird is okay even though he doesn't understand the world. You're that bird looking at the monitor, and you're thinking to yourself, "I can figure this out." Maybe you have some bird ideas. Maybe that's the best you can do.
The bird is okay even though he doesn't understand the world. You're that bird looking at the monitor, and you're thinking to yourself, "I can figure this out." Maybe you have some bird ideas. Maybe that's the best you can do.
The bird is okay even though he doesn't understand the world. You're that bird looking at the monitor, and you're thinking to yourself, "I can figure this out." Maybe you have some bird ideas. Maybe that's the best you can do.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 24 2021, @07:13AM
No matter what he does Bezos can't quite reach orbit and this time it looks like it will get him sued. ULA could very well go out of business over it and neither Boeing nor Lockheed Martin are going to be happy about it.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday June 24 2021, @02:45PM (2 children)
I said something [soylentnews.org] about this before. Also [1] [soylentnews.org] and [2] [soylentnews.org].
Copy/paste...
So let me summarize:
* ULA's existing Atlas V rocket uses Russian engines
* DoD is barred from using Russian engines after 2022, which means no more using Atlas V
* ULA bet its future Vulcan rocket on Blue Origin's BE-4 engine ("A working engine is the hardest part of building a working rocket.")
* DoD gave ULA the lion's share of money and gave SpaceX the small portion because reasons
* Blue Origin, despite being older than SpaceX, has yet to put anything into orbit, but is very excited and feverishly working toward sending Bezos on a sub orbital joyride
* Blue Origin's BE-4 engine having "technical challenges"
* A prototype BE-4 delivered July 2020
* Almost a year later (now) no fright certified BE-4 engine yet, GAO says "technical challenges"
Observations:
* If ULA can't get fright certified BE-4 engines, it can't get it's Vulcan rocket flying
* ULA needs to launch a national security mission, but may have to use its existing and much more expensive Atlas V instead.
* But this would have to be done by the end of 2022 for legal reasons
Questions:
* Even if Blue Origin could deliver fright certified BE-4 engines today, could ULA get its new Vulcan rocket working?
* And tested! DoD rulez say that national security payloads can only fly on a rocket that has flown at least three times.
* Can ULA even get Vulcan to have three successful flights by end of 2022?
* Could SpaceX launch national security missions instead, even though they get less money
* Would ULA's contract and relationship with DoD be on jeopardy?
See how hard this is?
Hey Bezos: why did you hire people from old-space to
ruinrun Blue Origin?The people who rely on government handouts and refuse to work should be kicked out of congress.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 24 2021, @05:17PM (1 child)
If ULA can't get fright certified BE-4 engines...
They are fright certified. ULA is peeing their pants at this point!
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday June 24 2021, @05:53PM
ULA is afraid of the question I asked:
They are very much afraid of having to appear on jeopardy.
The people who rely on government handouts and refuse to work should be kicked out of congress.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday June 24 2021, @02:53PM (1 child)
The good stuff begins on page 116 of the PDF, which has the page number 106 appearing on the lower left of actual page.
The people who rely on government handouts and refuse to work should be kicked out of congress.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 24 2021, @08:56PM
If I'm reading that right then BE-4 doesn't start reliably and delivers less than expected thrust. This far in those are not good signs.