Blue Origin, a space flight company, has commenced construction of a $200m rocket assembly facility in Huntsville.
The 200,000-square-foot plant will occupy a portion of 46 acres in Cummings Research Park at the corner of Pegasus Drive and Explorer Boulevard. Blue Origin will be building BE-4 rocket engines for Blue Origin’s partially reusable launch system New Glenn, in addition to the Vulcan Centaur of the United Launch Alliance (ULA).
Companies commonly have manufacturing and development facilities throughout the country with each having its on Letterheads carrying the company’s logo.
The Alabama Department of Commerce Secretary, Greg Canfield, explained that Huntsville’s longstanding reputation as a hub for rocket propulsion innovation was a decisive factor in Blue Origin’s choice of location.
Made for both government and commercial missions, the BE-4 uses the combustion of liquid natural gas and oxygen to create 550,000 pounds of thrust. The engine is presently undergoing full-scale development testing in Van Horn, Texas. There are also plans for the Huntsville plant to produce a BE-3 rocket engine variant. Blue Origin is in discussion with NASA to use Marshall Space Flight Center’s historic test stands for testing its new engines.
Blue Origin was started by Jeff Bezos, the CEO of e-retail giant Amazon. It is anticipated the new plant will create over 300 positions and begin operations in 2020. The new engine’s first test flight is tentatively scheduled for 2021.
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