|
The ''Blue Engine 4'',〔 〕 or BE-4 is a large staged combustion rocket engine under development by Blue Origin. The engine has been designed to produce of thrust. First flight is expected no earlier than 2019. Although it was initially planned to be used exclusively on a Blue Origin proprietary launch vehicle, it is currently planned that the engine will also be used on the United Launch Alliance Vulcan launch vehicle as well, the successor to the Atlas V launch vehicle. ==History== Blue Origin began work on the BE-4 in 2011. The new engine marks a change for Blue Origin in that this is their first engine that will combust liquid oxygen and liquid methane propellants. Blue Origin did not announce the new engine to the public until September 2014.〔 In September 2014—in a choice labeled "a stunner" by Space News〔—the large US launch vehicle manufacturer and launch service provider United Launch Alliance selected the Blue BE-4 as the main engine for a new primary launch vehicle.〔 〕 , the engine development work was being carried out in two parallel programs. One program is testing full-scale versions of the BE-4 powerpack, the set of valves and turbopumps that provide the proper fuel/oxidizer mix to the injectors and combustion chamber. The second program is testing subscale versions of the engine's injectors.〔 〕 Also in early 2015, the company indicated it is planning to begin full-scale engine testing in late 2016, and that they expected to complete development of the engine in 2017.〔 ===Atlas V successor=== In late 2014, Blue Origin signed an agreement with United Launch Alliance to co-develop the BE-4 engine, and to commit to use the new engine on the Vulcan launch vehicle, a successor to the Atlas V, and would replace the single RD-180 Russian-made engine.〔 Vulcan will use two of the BE-4 engines on each first stage. The engine development program began in 2011.〔 〕〔 〕 The ULA partnership announcement came after months of uncertainty about the future of the Russian RD-180 engine that has been used in the ULA Atlas V rocket for over a decade. Geopolitical concerns had come about that created serious concerns about the reliability and consistency of the supply chain for the procurement of the Russian engine.〔 〕 ULA expects the first flight of the new launch vehicle no earlier than 2019.〔〔 , the BE-4 is in competition with the AR-1 engine for the Atlas V RD-180 replacement program. Unlike BE-4's methane engine, the AR-1, like the RD-180, is kerosene fueled.〔 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「BE-4」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|