GAO: Problems with Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine threaten ULA’s Vulcan rocket
Capitalism in space: According to a new report [pdf] issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on June 8th, on-going technical issues with Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engine threaten ULA’s planned inaugural launch of its new Vulcan rocket later this year.
From page 106 of the report:
A U.S. produced rocket engine [BE-4] under development [by Blue Origin] for ULA’s Vulcan launch vehicle is experiencing technical challenges related to the igniter and booster capabilities required and may not be qualified in time to support first launches beginning in 2021. A joint program office and ULA team is tracking these challenges, and NSSL officials told us Vulcan remains on track to support first launches and certification in 2021. However, if ULA cannot complete engine qualification before the 2021 flight certification, the program might continue to rely on ULA’s Atlas V—which uses engines manufactured in the Russian Federation—to support ULA’s 2022 launches, despite a nearly $2.9 billion investment in new launch system development. [emphasis mine]
ULA has a limited number of Russian engines in its inventory. At some point it must move on to American-built engines, and if Blue Origin’s BE-4 cannot be fixed then the company will be forced to look for other options.
Both ULA and Blue Origin maintain that the first Vulcan launch will occur in the fourth quarter of this year, launching Astrobotic’s lunar lander Peregrine to the Moon, but no date has been announced. If this GAO report is describing problems that still remain as of June 2021 and have not been fixed, then expect a further delay to be announced, probably by September.
These technical issues with the BE-4 engine also impact Blue Origin’s plans to begin launching its orbital rocket, New Glenn, next year. That rocket is already two years behind schedule, delays caused partly by these engine issues and partly due to the requirements imposed by the military under the above-mentioned $2.9 billion program to develop new launch systems. Without that new engine, Blue Origin’s much-touted effort to compete with SpaceX for commercial launches will go up in smoke.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Capitalism in space: According to a new report [pdf] issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on June 8th, on-going technical issues with Blue Origin’s BE-4 rocket engine threaten ULA’s planned inaugural launch of its new Vulcan rocket later this year.
From page 106 of the report:
A U.S. produced rocket engine [BE-4] under development [by Blue Origin] for ULA’s Vulcan launch vehicle is experiencing technical challenges related to the igniter and booster capabilities required and may not be qualified in time to support first launches beginning in 2021. A joint program office and ULA team is tracking these challenges, and NSSL officials told us Vulcan remains on track to support first launches and certification in 2021. However, if ULA cannot complete engine qualification before the 2021 flight certification, the program might continue to rely on ULA’s Atlas V—which uses engines manufactured in the Russian Federation—to support ULA’s 2022 launches, despite a nearly $2.9 billion investment in new launch system development. [emphasis mine]
ULA has a limited number of Russian engines in its inventory. At some point it must move on to American-built engines, and if Blue Origin’s BE-4 cannot be fixed then the company will be forced to look for other options.
Both ULA and Blue Origin maintain that the first Vulcan launch will occur in the fourth quarter of this year, launching Astrobotic’s lunar lander Peregrine to the Moon, but no date has been announced. If this GAO report is describing problems that still remain as of June 2021 and have not been fixed, then expect a further delay to be announced, probably by September.
These technical issues with the BE-4 engine also impact Blue Origin’s plans to begin launching its orbital rocket, New Glenn, next year. That rocket is already two years behind schedule, delays caused partly by these engine issues and partly due to the requirements imposed by the military under the above-mentioned $2.9 billion program to develop new launch systems. Without that new engine, Blue Origin’s much-touted effort to compete with SpaceX for commercial launches will go up in smoke.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
I really want to believe in Blue Origin. I like Bezos’ dream of O’Neill colonies and space manufacturing more than Musk’s Mars-centric vision, but Jeff’s company just isn’t getting it done. Maybe once the engine issues are worked out they can get New Glenn flying and be a real SpaceX competitor, but with their almost paranoid secrecy, who knows when that will happen?
Mars makes a great, clear motivational goal. The capability to go there and back gives you everything else in between like space manufacturing, O’Neill colonies, Luna City etc.
Both ULA and Blue Origin maintain that the first Vulcan launch will occur in the fourth quarter of this year, launching Astrobotic’s lunar lander Peregrine to the Moon, but no date has been announced.
ULA and Astrobotic recently announced that due to payload issues, this launch will now occur in early 2022. ULA is still publicly saying that they intend to have Vulcan ready to fly by the end of the year, waiting for the payload. Skepticism is warranted, but that’s the public statement as of now.
ULA has a limited number of Russian engines in its inventory. At some point it must move on to American-built engines, and if Blue Origin’s BE-4 cannot be fixed then the company will be forced to look for other options.
There are currently another 30 Atlas V launches planned: 6 military, 4 NASA, 8 Starliner, 11 commercial, and 1 unreserved. And they can always order more RD-180s and build more Atlas Vs if they have to.
Let Musk make the rocket, and Bezos the payload. Now ULA needs to build Pyrios as a fly-back to replace Vulcan and SRBs.
Dynetics can bring back the F-1 with lower part count. J-2 for a bigger upper stage.
There are currently another 30 Atlas V launches planned: 6 military, 4 NASA, 8 Starliner, 11 commercial, and 1 unreserved. And they can always order more RD-180s and build more Atlas Vs if they have to.
Well, for anything but national security launches. By law, DoD is not allowed to buy Atlas 5 launches after Dec. 31, 2022.
For the moment, they have some buffer to play with. But if Vulcan gets pushed back much further, things start to get a little sticky.
Well, for anything but national security launches. By law, DoD is not allowed to buy Atlas 5 launches after Dec. 31, 2022.
True, but launches ordered in 2022 won’t take place until 2024 or 2025. ULA has *a lot* of time to work through any issues they may be having before it starts impacting revenue.
I swear, I am NOT making this up
“Washington Examiner
Petition calling on Bezos to stay in space and never return to Earth receives thousands of signatures
Michael Lee 25 mins ago…
A petition urging billionaire Jeff Bezos not to return to Earth after his first space flight has gained tens of thousands of signatures. (85,000 plus Tuesday Afternoon)
Seems mainly due to people objecting to his wealth and his spending it as he – not they – see fit
“Billionaire’s [sic] should not exist … on earth, or in space, but should they decide the latter they should stay there,” read a petition on Change.org, which was addressed “to the proletariat.”
“Critics have long accused Bezos of not being generous enough with his enormous wealth, with political analyst Earl Ofari Hutchinson noting former President Donald Trump has given away more than 3% of his fortune, while Bezos has parted with less than 1%.”
Col Beausabre: The petition is a nice indicator of the number of hateful totalitarians in our society today who think nothing of the idea of killing those they disagree with. I have already put this into my blacklist queue to write about at length.
Tory Bruno, the CEO of ULA, commented today on the GAO report:
Sadly inaccurate. Ie: while BE4 paces completion of Vulcan, as is typical in rocket development , there are no “igniter technical issues”. We will fly when our payload is ready.
So there you have it.
The GAO loves to attack all things space anyway. When was the last time they went after social programs that backfired?