Author Topic: Blue Origin's Huntsville Engine Factory  (Read 60498 times)

Online Vettedrmr

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Re: Re: Blue Origin's BE-4 Engine
« Reply #20 on: 01/16/2021 10:23 am »

I am sooo disappointed with the comments here.  Really, first class conspiracy stuff, and from some long-time members I used to respect,  I know, the whole Florida operation--all those big bldgs and stuff--and that Alabama plant--all paper mache.

This is one of the consequences of having minimal information flowing to the public, and what is released (e.g. this video) shows much more about being polished than it is about providing information.  So we take what we have, apply our experiences to it, and generate an opinion.  It's not a conspiracy ("Bezos has no intentions of going to space, he just wants the tax writeoff"), it's opinion ("where are the engines?").
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Offline JCRM

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Re: Re: Blue Origin's BE-4 Engine
« Reply #21 on: 01/16/2021 10:28 am »


OMG, look how clean this is. Obviously they haven't built many engines here....

Online ThatOldJanxSpirit

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Re: Re: Blue Origin's BE-4 Engine
« Reply #22 on: 01/16/2021 11:34 am »


OMG, look how clean this is. Obviously they haven't built many engines here....

Yep, immaculate workplace with workers, tools, folders, and most importantly engines 24/7.

Let’s not blow this into a meaningless debate. It was just an observation. Nobody is claiming this is a fake facility.

Offline Nomadd

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Re: Re: Blue Origin's BE-4 Engine
« Reply #23 on: 01/16/2021 02:25 pm »
 If they were close to regular production I'd expect them to be running the facility through it's paces already. Could be they already have and just have the place in perfect condition for startup.
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Offline PM3

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Re: Re: Blue Origin's BE-4 Engine
« Reply #24 on: 01/16/2021 03:53 pm »
I don't get the point of this discussion. So far everything is normal. Development of big new rocket project (NG) is far behind schedule. First booked payloads (Peregrine an Dream Chaser on Vulcan) are also behind schedule. Need for any engines therefore is less than expected. Factory was built on schedule, so they have little to do there. This will ramp up when rocket production ramps up, maybe Vulcan in 2022 and NG in 2024?

Everything normal, keep calm and carry on.
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Offline woods170

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Re: Re: Blue Origin's BE-4 Engine
« Reply #25 on: 01/16/2021 09:01 pm »

<image removed>

OMG, look how clean this is. Obviously they haven't built many engines here....

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Offline Robotbeat

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Re: Re: Blue Origin's BE-4 Engine
« Reply #26 on: 01/17/2021 12:26 am »
I don't get the point of this discussion. So far everything is normal. Development of big new rocket project (NG) is far behind schedule. First booked payloads (Peregrine an Dream Chaser on Vulcan) are also behind schedule. Need for any engines therefore is less than expected. Factory was built on schedule, so they have little to do there. This will ramp up when rocket production ramps up, maybe Vulcan in 2022 and NG in 2024?

Everything normal, keep calm and carry on.
I agree it's normal, but you'll also run into folks who say that Blue Origin secretly has a huge production capacity already spooled up and ready to go, just waiting for the signal to pull the curtain up.

The fairly sparse facility is pretty normal and what you'd expect given the sparse public information we have.
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Offline JCRM

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Re: Re: Blue Origin's BE-4 Engine
« Reply #27 on: 01/17/2021 02:07 am »

<image removed>

OMG, look how clean this is. Obviously they haven't built many engines here....

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Rule 5: Not a biggy, but it is recommended you "attach" images via the option in your post. Embedding images should only be be done if the image is sized correctly, under the width of the post. Attaching automatically ensures this, so please always opt for that method when you can.
"recommended"

I do not own the copyright to that image, so I can't attach it.
« Last Edit: 01/17/2021 02:16 am by JCRM »

Offline Coastal Ron

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Re: Re: Blue Origin's BE-4 Engine
« Reply #28 on: 01/17/2021 03:05 pm »
If they were close to regular production I'd expect them to be running the facility through it's paces already. Could be they already have and just have the place in perfect condition for startup.

We shouldn't judge whether a factory is ready to run by how clean it is. The production engineering department may be very good at anticipating where everything goes, and the factory manager might be someone that values a clean production floor.

A place for everything, and everything in its place.

But if you don't see parts and assemblies going through the factory, or being staged for their next operation, that may be an indication that production is either going slow, or hasn't really started yet. Staffing is an indicator too, so looking at the parking lot during the week is a good indicator.
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Offline Nomadd

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Re: Re: Blue Origin's BE-4 Engine
« Reply #29 on: 01/17/2021 04:09 pm »
If they were close to regular production I'd expect them to be running the facility through it's paces already. Could be they already have and just have the place in perfect condition for startup.

We shouldn't judge whether a factory is ready to run by how clean it is. The production engineering department may be very good at anticipating where everything goes, and the factory manager might be someone that values a clean production floor.

A place for everything, and everything in its place.

But if you don't see parts and assemblies going through the factory, or being staged for their next operation, that may be an indication that production is either going slow, or hasn't really started yet. Staffing is an indicator too, so looking at the parking lot during the week is a good indicator.
Gotta admit, I'd think there would be a thousand things you'd be doing in a new factory to wring out all the bugs. Pretty much running it and producing stuff even before final design just to look for issues. Production can affect design in addition to design affecting production.
 Not that you can really conclude anything by looking at a few photos of a sparkly clean factory floor.
« Last Edit: 01/17/2021 04:11 pm by Nomadd »
Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.

Offline edzieba

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Re: Re: Blue Origin's BE-4 Engine
« Reply #30 on: 01/18/2021 10:15 am »
Cleanliness is a red herring. More notable is the near-total lack of product: no blurs sitting on pallets between operations, no machining centres milling out blurs, no layout tables of blurs awaiting installation, no racks of subassembly blurs, etc. If you look at SpaceX, AJR, Rocketlab, Yuzhnoye, etc, those shops are clean but full of components and engines undergoing various stages of manufacture.

Offline b0objunior

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Re: Blue Origin's Huntsville Engine Factory
« Reply #31 on: 01/18/2021 04:22 pm »
Are we really going to discuss a rocket engine factory from a 2 minute video until the trumpet of the apocalypse?

Offline Hog

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Re: Blue Origin's Huntsville Engine Factory
« Reply #32 on: 01/18/2021 08:38 pm »
Are we really going to discuss a rocket engine factory from a 2 minute video until the trumpet of the apocalypse?

 People here can talk about a fart from a Raptor for pages and pages.

Offline Lar

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Re: Blue Origin's Huntsville Engine Factory
« Reply #33 on: 01/18/2021 11:44 pm »
Are we really going to discuss a rocket engine factory from a 2 minute video until the trumpet of the apocalypse?
No. Just till the next snippet from Blue
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Offline markbike528cbx

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Re: Blue Origin's Huntsville Engine Factory
« Reply #34 on: 09/28/2021 04:30 pm »
Seriously, listening to crickets for eight ( 8 ) months?
« Last Edit: 09/28/2021 04:32 pm by markbike528cbx »

Offline Eric Hedman

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Re: Blue Origin's Huntsville Engine Factory
« Reply #35 on: 09/28/2021 04:48 pm »
Seriously, listening to crickets for eight ( 8 ) months?
What is there to say? Blue isn't doing anything big there, so there isn't anything to report
Are there even any cars in the parking lot?

Offline Gliderflyer

Re: Blue Origin's Huntsville Engine Factory
« Reply #36 on: 09/30/2021 02:10 pm »
Seriously, listening to crickets for eight ( 8 ) months?
What is there to say? Blue isn't doing anything big there, so there isn't anything to report
Are there even any cars in the parking lot?

Yes, it looked mostly full when I drove by this morning.
I tried it at home

Offline DrHeywoodFloyd

Re: Blue Origin's Huntsville Engine Factory
« Reply #37 on: 02/13/2022 02:58 am »
Hello, I am interested in the status of the Test Stand 4670.... the last report was from mid July last year... has Blue Origin completed their remediation of the test stand, and started engine testing there?
« Last Edit: 02/13/2022 05:02 pm by gongora »

Offline Robert_the_Doll

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Re: Blue Origin's Huntsville Engine Factory
« Reply #38 on: 02/15/2022 05:23 am »
Hello, I am interested in the status of the Test Stand 4670.... the last report was from mid July last year... has Blue Origin completed their remediation of the test stand, and started engine testing there?

This article from about two months ago has the most up to date information that I know of 4670's status:

https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/news/2021/12/21/brevard-co--commission-s-resolution-commends-blue-origin-s-reconstruction-of-launch-pad-for-new-glenn-rocket

"Refurbishment on a 1960’s era test stand is being finished up at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville to be able to test the rate production of BE-4 and BE-3U engines. The team aims to have the first test performed in the first quarter of 2022."

Offline DrHeywoodFloyd

Re: Blue Origin's Huntsville Engine Factory
« Reply #39 on: 02/15/2022 07:31 am »
Hello, I am interested in the status of the Test Stand 4670.... the last report was from mid July last year... has Blue Origin completed their remediation of the test stand, and started engine testing there?

This article from about two months ago has the most up to date information that I know of 4670's status:

https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/news/2021/12/21/brevard-co--commission-s-resolution-commends-blue-origin-s-reconstruction-of-launch-pad-for-new-glenn-rocket

Thank you, yes, I saw that article as well and posted it to Reddit back in December when it came out.... sure there must be some-one this group that lives in Huntsville and is no subject to a nondisclosure agreement.... that might be able to enlighten us..? I suspect that this stand has a critical path impact on testing of the BE-4 Engine, and all up testing of the new clean first stage... As it would be capable of testing all seven engines at the same time... As it was used previously for testing the seven5 first stage....

"Refurbishment on a 1960’s era test stand is being finished up at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville to be able to test the rate production of BE-4 and BE-3U engines. The team aims to have the first test performed in the first quarter of 2022."

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