Blue Origin conducts New Glenn Flight 2 hotfire test

Blue Origin has successfully conducted a hotfire test for the New Glenn Flight 2, which was carried out for a total of 38 seconds, while all of the first stage BE-4 engines reached full power for 22 seconds.

Dave Limp, CEO of Blue Origin, has confirmed that the hotfire to replicate the landing burn sequence by shuttting down the non-gimballed engines after ramping down to 50 percent thrust, then shutting down the onboard gimballed engines while increasing the center engine to 80 percent thrust.

This maneuver will allow Blue Origin to understand the propellant management, specifically the fluid interactions between active and inactive engines’ feedlines during landing. Hotfire tests are designed for space rockets to test engine thrust and ignition to spot issues before the real flight. This move ensures that all system works perfectly when the rocket leaves the ground.

The latest hotfire test success follows the initial hotfire attempt. At that time, the Blue Origin team activated the water deluge system, followed by a brief ignition, which later turned into a full-blown halt.

Prior to the launch, Blue Origin verticalized the New Glenn rocket on the Transporter Erector (TE), which loads and shifts from the horizontal support system to the vertical supports.

The second New Glenn flight will take NASA’s ESCAPADE (ESCAPE and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorer) to orbit Mars. These spacecraft will study the structure of the Martian magnetic field, how it interacts with space weather, and how this interaction drives the planet’s atmospheric escape. This mission is important in case to get a better understanding of future human and robotic missions to the Red planet.