Blue Origin's Northstar engine promises more thrust at a quarter of the cost

Blue Origin rolled out two major changes to its New Glenn rocket on Thursday, both aimed at cutting what it costs to build the vehicle and pushing more payload toward geostationary orbit and the Moon. The company says it eventually wants New Glenn flying more than 1,000 times a year.

The headline act is Northstar, a new engine destined to take over from the BE-4 that currently powers New Glenn's first stage. Blue Origin has already started test-firing it. CEO Dave Limp, speaking at the UP.Summit conference at the Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida, described Northstar as a pared-down but stronger take on the BE-4: half the parts, 30 percent less mass, and roughly 65 percent of it printable in 3D.

The numbers get punchier. Blue Origin reckons it can build Northstar for 25 percent of what a BE-4 costs, and Limp said the company wants to reach a point where one engine comes together in under a day. Thrust climbs too, from the BE-4's 640,000 pounds to a starting 715,000 pounds for Northstar. Both engines burn methane and liquid oxygen, and both use an oxygen-rich staged combustion cycle with a single-shaft turbopump.

Northstar isn't the only addition. Blue Origin is also developing GS3, a hydrogen-oxygen third stage meant to give New Glenn extra kick for higher-energy missions. Limp framed the work as covering every corner of the vehicle. “To get access to space at a lower cost, we have to look at every part of the vehicle,” he said. “This is going to be a game-changer.”

Demand is the pitch. “There has never been higher demand for launch, ever,” Limp said. That appetite is what the company is chasing with a cheaper, faster-to-assemble engine and a busier launch cadence.

The BE-4 isn't going anywhere. Limp said Blue Origin will keep building it for United Launch Alliance, which pairs two of the engines on its Vulcan rocket.