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46 min ago 2 min read
Blue Origin has identified the main oxygen valve on one of its BE-4 engines as the root cause of the failure that led to the explosion of its New Glenn rocket during a in Florida on 28 May.
The company has conducted extensive component-level and engine hot-fire tests to understand the failure mode and inform mitigations.
It will introduce small modifications to the valve, allowing the updated design to be retrofitted to existing engines.
Production of the updated hardware is underway and is expected to be completed by the end of August.
Sharing the latest hot fire update, Dave Limp, CEO of Blue Origin, said the company is also working through the remaining fault tree analysis.
Seven BE-4 engines power New Glenn’s first-stage reusable booster, fuelled by liquid oxygen and liquefied natural gas as propellant.
The first stage is designed to complete at least 25 flights.
Blue Origin has invested around $1bn in its dedicated New Glenn launch site in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The space technology firm was founded by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos in 2000.
More widely, the rapid expansion of commercial space launches is developing into a potentially significant growth market for industrial gas companies.
