“Currently, they’re rolling off the assembly line at a rate of one per month, and we’re planning to increase that,” he mentioned regarding the second stages, referred to internally as GS-2. “Achieving the upper level would be optimistic, but our goal is to have an abundance of hardware. So, we aim to accelerate our production as quickly as possible, and over time I believe our launch frequency can increase.”
The primary factor in increasing frequency is production. This includes BE-4 rocket engines for the first stage, BE-3U engines for the upper stage, and the stages themselves.
“Rockets present challenges,” Limp stated. “Creating prototypes is straightforward, but manufacturing a machine that can produce these machines at scale is significantly more difficult. I feel like, when I observe our factories, particularly our engine facility in Huntsville, the rocket manufacturing site at Rocket Park, and Lunar Plant 1, there’s an impressive amount of energy on the production floor.”
Since becoming part of Blue Origin nearly two years ago, Limp noted that boosting production has been one of his top priorities.
“Manufacturing is an ongoing process, but I believe we’re immensely strong on the engine side,” he commented. “Next year, we plan to double our production rate once more. There’s still work ahead, but for the second stages, I feel we’re making progress. With the booster, we’re advancing as well. The crucial aspect is to possess a wealth of hardware so that even if certain missions encounter issues, we can recover swiftly.”
Next destination, the Moon
Blue Origin successfully retrieved the New Glenn first stage from last week’s launch and transported it to port on Monday. While it appears much cleaner than a used Falcon 9 first stage, this is largely due to the use of methane fuel, which doesn’t create the soot typical of kerosene fuel. It will require some time to assess if and when this recovered first stage can be launched again, but if it’s not prepared soon, Blue Origin has a third first stage nearly finished.
