An infrared image of Blue Origin hot fire testing a BE-7 rocket engine, which will be used for the company's crewed lunar lander, at NASA's Marshall space flight center in June:
NASA says it worked with Blue Origin "to perform a series of hot-fire tests" on a prototype of the BE-7 engine, which is "additively manufactured" (i.e., 3D-printed).
This summer, Marshall engineers worked with Blue Origin of Kent, Washington, to perform a series of hot-fire tests on Blue Origin’s BE-7 engine thrust chamber assembly prototype. The BE-7 is an additively manufactured engine made to power in-space systems that are under development for various applications. This testing demonstrated features specifically enabled by additive manufacturing to provide high performance, and tested chamber pressures across the full throttle range. The BE-7 will power Blue Origin’s commercial cargo lunar lander system for both government and commercial customers.
The BE-7 is a high-performance, additively manufactured LH2/LOX engine that will power the Blue Origin-led National Team HLS lunar lander. This week's test at @NASA Marshall in Huntsville brings the program’s cumulative test time to 1,245 seconds. #Artemis bit.ly/3oAN4R5
NEWS DEC 4, 2020BLUE ORIGIN'S BE-7 ENGINE TESTING FURTHER DEMONSTRATES CAPABILITY TO LAND ON THE MOONHUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Blue Origin’s BE-7 engine program continues its testing at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. This week, the program kicked off the fourth thrust chamber test series of its high-efficiency engine. The hotfire testing further validates the engine that will power Blue Origin’s National Team Human Landing System (HLS) in support of NASA’s Artemis program.BE-7 Engine at NASA MarshallSo far in this recent campaign, the thrust chamber was tested for a duration of 20 seconds. This brings the cumulative testing time on the BE-7 thrust chamber to 1,245 seconds. The BE-7 is a high-performance, additively manufactured liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen lunar landing engine with 10,000 lbf of thrust – throttling down to 2,000 lbf of thrust for a precise landing on the Moon. “This thrust chamber test measured the ability to extract energy out of the hydrogen and oxygen cooled combustor segments that power the engine’s turbopumps – the key to achieving high engine performance,” said John Vilja, senior vice president, Engines, Blue Origin. “The high specific impulse, deep throttling, and restart capabilities of the BE-7 make it the ideal engine for large lunar payload transport as well as many other in-space applications. Thanks to the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center team for their support in this testing. We value this partnership and are looking forward to more test campaigns with them.”Within the National Team’s Human Landing System architecture, the BE-7 is used on both the Descent Element and Transfer Element. “The BE-7, a turbomachinery-based engine using the most efficient propellants, is optimal for deep-space maneuvers and landing on the Moon,” said Brent Sherwood, vice president, Advanced Development Programs, Blue Origin. “Our engine test series is steadily maturing what’s needed to get Americans safely on the lunar surface as soon as possible. We are positioning to use the Moon’s ice resources for rocket propellant, which will make exploration sustainable and open the Moon for commerce.”Developed privately over several years, the BE-7 is the latest high-performance engine in the Blue Origin family, building upon the demonstrated success of the BE-3 PM hydrogen/oxygen engine that powers the New Shepard vehicle.
A photo from the fourth thrust chamber test series of the BE-7 engine at NASA Marshall, which lasted 10 seconds.
BE-7 is an additively manufactured, high-performance, dual-expander cycle engine, generating 40 kN (10,000 lbf) thrust.
Quote from: TrevorMonty on 06/21/2020 11:47 pmQuote from: Aeneas on 06/21/2020 09:40 pmQuote from: ncb1397 on 06/21/2020 09:03 pmThere are maybe a couple of engines existing that have better specific impulse. According to wikipedia [1], it essentially is only beat by CE-7.5, RL-10B-2, Vinci and RD-0146D. But clearly it is close to the top of the list if not the top spot.[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_orbital_rocket_enginesTrue but it's not leading the list. Maybe they have a much better TWR? Yes, it's good to be in the top range but not if the other engines are decades old and you are able to do a greenfield approach.Lower dry mass is more important than few seconds ISP. This especially so in case of reuseable lander or OTV where every kg makes a difference.Price, reliability, throttle range or simply a smaller nozzle than those mentioned above because height is an important factor.
Quote from: Aeneas on 06/21/2020 09:40 pmQuote from: ncb1397 on 06/21/2020 09:03 pmThere are maybe a couple of engines existing that have better specific impulse. According to wikipedia [1], it essentially is only beat by CE-7.5, RL-10B-2, Vinci and RD-0146D. But clearly it is close to the top of the list if not the top spot.[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_orbital_rocket_enginesTrue but it's not leading the list. Maybe they have a much better TWR? Yes, it's good to be in the top range but not if the other engines are decades old and you are able to do a greenfield approach.Lower dry mass is more important than few seconds ISP. This especially so in case of reuseable lander or OTV where every kg makes a difference.
Quote from: ncb1397 on 06/21/2020 09:03 pmThere are maybe a couple of engines existing that have better specific impulse. According to wikipedia [1], it essentially is only beat by CE-7.5, RL-10B-2, Vinci and RD-0146D. But clearly it is close to the top of the list if not the top spot.[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_orbital_rocket_enginesTrue but it's not leading the list. Maybe they have a much better TWR? Yes, it's good to be in the top range but not if the other engines are decades old and you are able to do a greenfield approach.
There are maybe a couple of engines existing that have better specific impulse. According to wikipedia [1], it essentially is only beat by CE-7.5, RL-10B-2, Vinci and RD-0146D. But clearly it is close to the top of the list if not the top spot.[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_orbital_rocket_engines
WANTED INFO: Biggest unknown piece of information for this engine is the O/F (oxidizer to fuel) ratio. Will be added here if found.
Quote from: Nilof on 05/10/2019 05:41 amWANTED INFO: Biggest unknown piece of information for this engine is the O/F (oxidizer to fuel) ratio. Will be added here if found.Did anyone ever find out (or deduce) the mixture ratio of this engine?Doesn't seem like it should be any big secret. If it's anything like other LH2/LOX engines it will be somewhere around 5.5 to 6.0.
https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1334847142469529601Quote The BE-7 is a high-performance, additively manufactured LH2/LOX engine that will power the Blue Origin-led National Team HLS lunar lander. This week's test at @NASA Marshall in Huntsville brings the program’s cumulative test time to 1,245 seconds. #Artemis bit.ly/3oAN4R5https://www.blueorigin.com/news/be7-engine-testingQuoteNEWS DEC 4, 2020BLUE ORIGIN'S BE-7 ENGINE TESTING FURTHER DEMONSTRATES CAPABILITY TO LAND ON THE MOONHUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Blue Origin’s BE-7 engine program continues its testing at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. This week, the program kicked off the fourth thrust chamber test series of its high-efficiency engine. The hotfire testing further validates the engine that will power Blue Origin’s National Team Human Landing System (HLS) in support of NASA’s Artemis program.BE-7 Engine at NASA MarshallSo far in this recent campaign, the thrust chamber was tested for a duration of 20 seconds. This brings the cumulative testing time on the BE-7 thrust chamber to 1,245 seconds. The BE-7 is a high-performance, additively manufactured liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen lunar landing engine with 10,000 lbf of thrust – throttling down to 2,000 lbf of thrust for a precise landing on the Moon. “This thrust chamber test measured the ability to extract energy out of the hydrogen and oxygen cooled combustor segments that power the engine’s turbopumps – the key to achieving high engine performance,” said John Vilja, senior vice president, Engines, Blue Origin. “The high specific impulse, deep throttling, and restart capabilities of the BE-7 make it the ideal engine for large lunar payload transport as well as many other in-space applications. Thanks to the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center team for their support in this testing. We value this partnership and are looking forward to more test campaigns with them.”Within the National Team’s Human Landing System architecture, the BE-7 is used on both the Descent Element and Transfer Element. “The BE-7, a turbomachinery-based engine using the most efficient propellants, is optimal for deep-space maneuvers and landing on the Moon,” said Brent Sherwood, vice president, Advanced Development Programs, Blue Origin. “Our engine test series is steadily maturing what’s needed to get Americans safely on the lunar surface as soon as possible. We are positioning to use the Moon’s ice resources for rocket propellant, which will make exploration sustainable and open the Moon for commerce.”Developed privately over several years, the BE-7 is the latest high-performance engine in the Blue Origin family, building upon the demonstrated success of the BE-3 PM hydrogen/oxygen engine that powers the New Shepard vehicle.Attached photo caption:Quote A photo from the fourth thrust chamber test series of the BE-7 engine at NASA Marshall, which lasted 10 seconds.Attached engine graphic caption:Quote BE-7 is an additively manufactured, high-performance, dual-expander cycle engine, generating 40 kN (10,000 lbf) thrust.
Would somebody smarter than me explain why the flame here is so blue/yellow? I was under the impression that Hydrolox engines tend to have nearly transparent blue exhaust? I suppose it must be the glow from kicked up dust?
Earlier this year, Blue Origin’s #BE7 lunar lander engines program completed another successful Thrust Chamber Assembly hotfire test campaign at @NASA_Marshall. To date, the campaign has completed a total of 92 tests for 3,347 cumulative seconds of hotfire.
Last week, our BE-7 team conducted another successful Thrust Chamber Assembly (TCA) test at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Test Stand 116. Our tests on an upgraded TCA bring our cumulative test time to more than 4000 seconds, and we are on track in our engine development path.
This was a self-funded test as part of our campaign to advance our lunar capabilities, and we’re grateful for our @NASA_Marshall partners.
Looks like there is a new render of BE-7 in the latest Blue Origin video. Lot less spaghetti looking. Also looks like they are going with a throat gimbal.
TRW developed the LMDE on an extremely compressed schedule. Fortunately, there was plenty of hardware and a test-as-you-go philosophy that helped identify component problems early, before they could impact subassemblies and assemblies. Testing, of course, continued at the subassembly and assembly level.
2.5 years to perform an additional 2755 seconds of run time. An average 92 seconds of testing per month, or 3 seconds per day.Certainly NOT hardware rich. Which seems endemic to all their engine programs.