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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

USA's efforts to stop relying on Russian-built rocket engines derailed by issues with Blue Origin's BE-4 [theregister.com]

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 [gao.gov] [PDF] makes grim reading for fans of billionaire-built space stuff. Noted by NASAWatch [nasawatch.com], 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 [theregister.com].

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 [soylentnews.org], but oh well.

See also: GAO's annual review of DoD programs raises concerns on space launch, missile warning satellites [spacenews.com]
With ULA's new rocket Vulcan behind schedule, Space Force agrees to let Atlas 5 fill in [spacenews.com]

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