Blue Origin has announced significant upgrades to its New Glenn rocket, aimed at enhancing payload performance and launch reliability. The company’s roadmap includes a new variant with more main engines, designed for increased super-heavy lift capabilities.
Following the successful second launch of the New Glenn booster, Blue Origin revealed plans to enhance the rocket’s payload performance and launch frequency. The upcoming upgrades, set to debut with the third launch of New Glenn in 2026, will feature a new variant named 9×4. This evolved version will sport nine BE-4 engines in the first stage and four BE-3U engines in the upper stage, offering increased capacity across various mission profiles.
The 9×4 variant is tailored for missions requiring higher capacity and performance metrics, with capabilities to carry over 70 metric tons to low-Earth orbit, more than 14 metric tons directly to geosynchronous orbit, and over 20 metric tons to trans-lunar injection. Additionally, the 9×4 rocket will boast a larger 8.7-meter fairing, enhancing its versatility for a range of mission profiles.
While Blue Origin has not specified a precise timeline for the debut of the 9×4 variant, internal sources suggest that it could take flight as early as 2027. The company’s iterative design approach from the current 7×2 vehicle enables a rapid transition to the advanced 9×4 configuration.
Source: Ars Technica