The Blue Engine 7 is a liquid hydrogen/oxygen dual expander cycle engine for use with the
Blue Moon
A blue moon is an additional full moon that appears in a subdivision of a year: the third of four full moons in a season.
The phrase in modern usage has nothing to do with the actual color of the Moon, although a visually blue Moon (the Moon a ...
family of lunar landers. The company utilizes
additive manufacturing in the development process and it is meant to generate of thrust, serving as both the ascent and descent engines for Blue Moon.
History
Following the commencement of the
Artemis Program the company sought to independently develop a lunar lander, the 'MK1' and accompanying engine. The BE-7 test phase began in 2019 with additional hot fire testing in 2020 at the
Marshall Space Flight Center
The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (Huntsville postal address), is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. As the largest NASA center, MSFC's first ...
. Following selection for NASA's second Human Landing System, which Blue Origin calls 'MK2', the company announced that the BE-7 engine will be used for both landers. A demonstration flight of the MK1, planned for 2025 is on track and will debut the BE-7 engine. In 2024, the company announced vacuum cell testing was being conducted on the engine at the
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County and a southern arm is in Los Angeles County. The hub of the base is E ...
.
Technical specifications
The BE-7 utilizes liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants in a
dual expander cycle generating up to 10,000 pounds-force of thrust which can be throttled to 2,000 pounds-force. The company hopes that the propellants can, in the future, utilize
ISRU and be produced from ice in the polar regions of the moon. It will also be used to power the transfer element, the
Cislunar Transporter in development by
Lockheed Martin
The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...
.
See also
*
Lunar Module Descent Engine
The descent propulsion system (DPS - pronounced 'dips') or lunar module descent engine (LMDE), internal designation VTR-10, is a variable-throttle hypergolic rocket engine invented by Gerard W. Elverum Jr. and developed by Space Technology Labo ...
- used on the
Apollo Lunar Module's Descent Stage
*
Lunar Module Ascent Engine - used on the
Apollo Lunar Module's Ascent Stage
*
RL10 - Ubiquitous LOX/LH2 expander cycle engine
References
External links
*
{{Blue Origin
Blue Origin rocket engines
Rocket engines using methane propellant
Rocket engines using the staged combustion cycle
Rocket engines of the United States