Blue · Ars Technica
Blue Origin certainly has ambitious launch targets for New Glenn
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Earlier this week, Blue Origin posted a job opportunity for a “senior manager” to oversee tank fabrication for “Quattro,” and the description contained some intriguing information.
Key facts
- A production rate of 60 a year in 2028 suggests the company is targeting a launch rate of 60 New Glenn 9×4 rockets annually three years from now
- The job responsibilities include executing a “rate ramp”—which is to say, a production rate—of 12 per year currently to 60 per year by the third quarter of 2028, followed by a production rate of 100
- Before the year 2025, for example, Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos told the company he wanted New Glenn to launch eight times that year — It is possible this rocket, significantly larger than the 7×2 variant currently flying and necessary for the company’s lunar ambitions as part of NASA’s Artemis program, could make its debut next year
Summary
“As part of a hardworking team of specialists, technicians, and engineers you will be the Senior Manager of Gen 2.0 Tank Fabrication, and will own the production execution of the most structurally complex and schedule-critical subsystem on the vehicle—the propellant tank,” the job posting states. Quattro is the company’s nickname for a more powerful upper stage for the New Glenn rocket, which will feature four BE-3U engines instead of the two currently powering the booster. It is possible this rocket, significantly larger than the 7×2 variant currently flying and necessary for the company’s lunar ambitions as part of NASA’s Artemis program, could make its debut next year.