With the successful flight of the New Glenn 2 mission, Blue Origin has gotten more forthcoming about plans for their new flagship. The plans include several new enhancements that we'll see coming along.
"The enhancements span propulsion, structures, avionics, reusability and recovery operations, and will be phased into upcoming New Glenn missions beginning with NG-3," Blue Origin wrote in an update today. (NG-3 is the rocket's third mission, which is expected to launch early next year.)
New Glenn's reusable first stage is powered by seven of Blue Origin's BE-4 engines, and its second stage features two BE-3Us. According to the update, both of these engines are getting an upgrade, which will boost the first stage's thrust from 3.9 million to 4.5 million poundsper foot(17,219 to 19,928 kilonewtons) and the upper stage's from 320,000 to 400,000 poundsper foot(1,423 to 1,779 kN).
(Strikeout added - the Space.com source still says pounds per foot, but as commenters to the article there point out, "ain't no such thing." It's some sort of mistake. I'll strike out the "per foot" but otherwise leave it as they left it.)
Today's update also includes some even bigger news: Blue Origin plans to build a "super-heavy" version of the rocket, which it calls New Glenn 9x4. The name is a nod to the increased number of engines — nine BE-4s on the first stage and four BE-3Us up top.
New Glenn 9x4 will be capable of lofting 77 tons (70 metric tons) of payload to low Earth orbit, compared to 50 tons (45 mt) for the original "7x2" variant. The new rocket will also have an even bigger payload fairing — one that's 28.5 feet (8.7 meters) wide, compared to an initial 23 feet (7 m).
CEO Dave Limp posted this image showing the existing (7x2) and coming (9x4) New Glenn rockets on X.
Ah, so BO is wanting to basically do Starship (light) and Booster. Well, at least they're dreaming.
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