First complete BE-4 engines have been assembled

The first complete BE-4 engines have been assembled.

http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/6/148...origin-rocket-
engine-be-4-new-glenn


http://www.geekwire.com/2017/jeff-be...rocket-engine/


This is not a small engine. Two of these will give the first stage of
Vulcan more thrust than one Russian RD-180 gives Atlas V.

Jeff
--
All opinions posted by me on Usenet News are mine, and mine alone.
These posts do not reflect the opinions of my family, friends,
employer, or any organization that I am a member of.

Jeff Findley wrote:


The first complete BE-4 engines have been assembled.

http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/6/148...origin-rocket-
engine-be-4-new-glenn


http://www.geekwire.com/2017/jeff-be...rocket-engine/


This is not a small engine. Two of these will give the first stage of
Vulcan more thrust than one Russian RD-180 gives Atlas V.


Note that they've just gotten the first one built, but it's never been
fired. They have a long way to go, particularly at the glacial speed
that Blue Origin usually moves. It has around 2/3 the thrust of a
SpaceX Raptor, which was test fired last year.


--
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable
man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore,
all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
--George Bernard Shaw

In article ,
says...

Jeff Findley wrote:


The first complete BE-4 engines have been assembled.

http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/6/148...origin-rocket-
engine-be-4-new-glenn


http://www.geekwire.com/2017/jeff-be...rocket-engine/


This is not a small engine. Two of these will give the first stage of
Vulcan more thrust than one Russian RD-180 gives Atlas V.


Note that they've just gotten the first one built, but it's never been
fired. They have a long way to go, particularly at the glacial speed
that Blue Origin usually moves. It has around 2/3 the thrust of a
SpaceX Raptor, which was test fired last year.

Yes, the assembly of the first full engines means that they can start
testing testing the complete engine.

That said, they've been testing parts of the engine for almost two years
now and posted some video to go with some of those tests:

BE 4 Engine - Published on Feb 20, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWrGXxB_EIs

Yes, they were testing the turbopumps and injectors separately back
then. I'm not a propulsion guy, but I gather incremental testing like
this is common during liquid fueled rocket engine development.

Jeff
--
All opinions posted by me on Usenet News are mine, and mine alone.
These posts do not reflect the opinions of my family, friends,
employer, or any organization that I am a member of.