Blue Origin completes investigation of the failed landing of New Glenn’s 1st stage
Blue Origin today announced that it has completed its investigation into the failure of New Glenn’s first stage when it attempted to land on a barge in Atlantic during the rocket’s first launch on January 16, 2025.
Our ambitious attempt to land the booster, “So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance,” was unsuccessful due to our three BE-4 engines not re-igniting properly. Our review confirmed that all debris landed in our designated hazard area with no threat to public safety. The report identified seven corrective actions, focusing on propellant management and engine bleed control improvements, which we’re already addressing. We expect to return to flight in late spring and will attempt to land the booster again.
It is very concerning that the three BE-4 engines that were supposed to relight were unable to do so, especially because this engine was supposedly designed from the start of re-usability.
The next scheduled New Glenn launch in for June, launching NASA’s Escapade Mars orbiters.
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Blue Origin today announced that it has completed its investigation into the failure of New Glenn’s first stage when it attempted to land on a barge in Atlantic during the rocket’s first launch on January 16, 2025.
Our ambitious attempt to land the booster, “So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance,” was unsuccessful due to our three BE-4 engines not re-igniting properly. Our review confirmed that all debris landed in our designated hazard area with no threat to public safety. The report identified seven corrective actions, focusing on propellant management and engine bleed control improvements, which we’re already addressing. We expect to return to flight in late spring and will attempt to land the booster again.
It is very concerning that the three BE-4 engines that were supposed to relight were unable to do so, especially because this engine was supposedly designed from the start of re-usability.
The next scheduled New Glenn launch in for June, launching NASA’s Escapade Mars orbiters.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
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4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
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Almost sounds like it was 0 for 3. Ouch.
The slow acceleration of the vehicle after liftoff was concerning. Took about a minute to get to 10,000 feet. F9 and Starship are at about 30,000 feet after a minute.
I think Bezos will eventually tire of BO. He isn’t an engineer’s bootlace.
Sounds like the same problems that affected Raptor engines on restarting for booster Heavy. After turning the ship for entry burn, fuel didn’t settle, and some ice blocked fuel intakes.
I also noticed that liftoff acceleration was very slow. I hope that was due to throttling back engines on first launch. Otherwise, it might not get off the pad with a heavy payload.
Diane Wilson,
Another possibility that comes to mind is that New Glenn does not perform a reentry burn, so it is not clear to me whether the engines survived the reentry healthy enough to restart. Super Heavy also does not perform a reentry burn, so we know that it is not necessary for engine survival, but Super Heavy comes down with its engine compartment glowing hot.
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Robert Zimmerman wrote: “It is very concerning that the three BE-4 engines that were supposed to relight were unable to do so, especially because this engine was supposedly designed from the start of re-usability.”
Once Blue Origin solves the restart problem, the engines may be reusable. I am not thinking that the restart problem has to do with the design for reusability. It took a couple of tries for SpaceX to figure out their icing problem, as Diane noted, but because so few rockets have landed from space on their engines, there could be plenty of other traps and hazards that engineers have yet to encounter.
Edward,
I’m with you. If the guidance system reoriented the booster properly the engines and all the ancillary stuff would be heated to well over a thousand degrees. I know SpaceX did a lot of work on how to protect the engines from high temp. And looking at a BE-3, it’s a rats nest of fluid and electronic elements that just screams multiple single point of failure.
Getting a rocket engine up there is one thing, getting it back is another.
Maybe Bezos is beginning to realize why Raptor 3/4 looks “incomplete”: all the fiddly bits are hidden inside the structure to protect them! Of course, that presumes that you have a highly mature design…