Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizens for the delivery of clues on the way! On the morning of July 12, Beijing time, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin rocket engine caught fire during a test at the end of last month, an accident that could delay the company's delivery of rockets to an important customer.

The accident involved a BE-4 engine at Blue Origin's plant in West Texas. The company, founded by Jeff Bezos, did not explain exactly what happened, but said there were no casualties and that it was narrowing down the cause of the accident.

The customer receiving the engine is the United launch Alliance (United Launch Alliance), a major launch supplier of the U.S. Department of Defense.

Tory Bruno, chief executive of the United launch Alliance, said in a message that the BE-4 device might have to be scrapped after the engine "caught fire and was severely damaged".

Bruno added that failures are not uncommon in so-called acceptance tests, and Blue Origin must complete acceptance tests to ensure that the engine can be used properly. The chief executive also said on social media that the problem could be fixed quickly. However, if the problem is serious enough, delivery may be delayed.

Blue Origin said the company is still on track to meet this year's engine delivery commitment. The company also said it had identified the cause and was taking remedial measures, but did not provide further details.

According to people familiar with the situation, the accident occurred 10 seconds after the engine test.

For the past decade, Blue Origin has been developing BE-4 engines as the main engine for the company's future New Glenn rockets. In addition, Blue Origin also provides ULA with BE-4 engines for its future Vulcan rocket, which is expected to make its maiden flight later this year.

ULA plans to use the BE-4, which had test problems, as one of the two main engines for the Vulcan rocket's second flight. Blue Origin said ULA was immediately aware of the problem.

Last year, Blue Origin delivered the engine for Vulcan's first flight, much later than expected. According to ULA, these BE-4 engines have successfully passed acceptance tests and are qualified for flight missions.

A spokesman for ULA said last month's fire would not affect the flight, known as Certification-1. The first Vulcan launch is one of two missions to be carried out by ULA to certify the launch vehicle for national security space missions.

Certification-1 will carry two satellites for Amazon's broadband access program, the Kuiper project. It will also launch a lunar lander developed by Astrobotic Technology and a commemorative payload for a company called Celestis.

Welcome to subscribe "Shulou Technology Information " to get latest news, interesting things and hot topics in the IT industry, and controls the hottest and latest Internet news, technology news and IT industry trends.