Blue Origin Unveils New Upper Stage and Engine for New Glenn Rockets

Aerospace company Blue Origin has revealed plans for a new third stage and a fresh first-stage engine for its New Glenn rocket family. The announcements were made during an event at the Kennedy Space Center. The updates are part of the company’s ongoing efforts to expand the capabilities of its heavy-lift launch vehicles for complex missions beyond Earth orbit.

Glenn Stage 3 for Deep Space

The new upper stage, known as Glenn Stage 3 or GS3, is built for missions requiring direct injection into distant destinations like geostationary orbit and Earth-escape paths. Blue Origin stated that the stage will use a composite liquid hydrogen tank, which could be the first of its kind flown in space. Testing for this tank has already started at the company’s facility in Texas. A government mission heading to cis-lunar space is already scheduled for 2028 using this hardware.

The Northstar First-Stage Engine

Alongside the upper stage, Blue Origin introduced a new first-stage engine called Northstar. This engine burns a mix of liquefied natural gas and liquid oxygen, similar to the existing BE-4 engine. However, Northstar is designed to produce more thrust, reaching 715,000 pounds compared to the BE-4’s 640,000 pounds. The company noted that manufacturing improvements allow a Northstar engine to be assembled in under a day, speeding up production times significantly.