Blue Origin expands AFRL partnership for rocket engine development

(SpaceEnergy) Blue Origin and the US Air Force Research Laboratory have expanded their partnership to transfer government-developed staged-combustion rocket propulsion hardware and engineering material for use in commercial engine development.

The organisations signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement covering hardware and engineering artefacts from AFRL’s Hydrocarbon Boost and Integrated Powerhead Demonstrator programmes.

The earlier programmes developed oxygen-rich and full-flow staged-combustion technologies for liquid rocket engines. Blue Origin said it will study the transferred hardware and data to inform its commercial engine development.

“This new CRADA expands our partnership with AFRL as we work to develop next-generation rocket propulsion technologies,” Blue Origin senior vice-president of engines Nicholas Robertson said. “Studying these historic and technical artifacts grounds our engineering models in real government research.”

The agreement extends an existing relationship under which Blue Origin and AFRL are testing and maturing the BE-7 lunar-lander engine at AFRL’s Area 1-42 High Altitude Rocket Test Facility at Edwards Air Force Base.

BE-7 uses a dual-expander cycle and is designed for high specific impulse and deep throttling for lunar payload transport. Blue Origin said testing has included operation at simulated atmospheric conditions above 80,000ft.