The military’s primary launch provider, the United Launch Alliance, is poised to announce that it has selected the main engine for its next-generation rocket, a vehicle called the Vulcan. The company — a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin — will reportedly use an engine manufactured by Blue Origin, an aerospace company helmed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Known as the BE-4, the rocket engine has been under development since 2011. It runs on liquid oxygen and liquid methane, making it the first engine to use such propellants. And when complete, each engine will supposedly generate 550,000 pounds of thrust at liftoff. Blue Origin plans to use the BE-4 to power its future orbital rocket,…
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