Blue Origin unveils Northstar, a cheaper and stronger engine

A third stage for farther missions

The company also detailed GS3, a third stage fuelled by hydrogen and oxygen and powered by the BE-7 engine already used on its lunar landers. It fits inside the interstage and takes no volume away under the fairing. Not every rocket will carry it: it is meant for payloads bound for geostationary orbit or beyond Earth orbit, such as translunar injection.

GS3 works with any first- and second-stage configuration. Calculations were made for a 7x2 and a 9x4 layout. With seven BE-4 engines and two BE-3U on the lower stages, the rocket could lift 8 tonnes to geostationary orbit and 10 tonnes to translunar injection. A nine-engine BE-4 first stage with four BE-3U engines would raise those figures to 14 and 20 tonnes.

The stage is built from lightweight composite materials. Because hydrogen molecules are tiny and leak easily, there were doubts about whether composite could hold under higher pressure. In tests so far, the tank withstood 100% of maximum operating pressure for 2.5 hours and 150% for 10 minutes.

What comes next

All the new components are still in testing. If development goes well, GS3 could fly on New Glenn in 2028. The traditional BE-4 will keep powering ULA's Vulcan. The announcement comes as Blue Origin tries to show it remains at the leading edge after a New Glenn explosion set its launch pad on fire, and as more customers line up to fly on the rocket. The company's stated goal is 1,000 launches a year.