Blue Origin Job Posting Reveals Ambitious Production Targets: 60 New Glenn Launches Annually by 2028
Company seeks senior manager for Quattro upper stage tank fabrication as it plans to ramp production from 12 to 60 rockets per year
L'essentiel
- Blue Origin posted a job for a senior manager to oversee tank fabrication for 'Quattro,' the company's more powerful upper stage for New Glenn featuring four BE-3U engines.
- The posting reveals ambitious production targets: ramping from 12 vehicles per year currently to 60 by Q3 2028, then 100 second stages annually by 2029.
- A company official confirmed these targets are accurate.
Résumé généré par IA
Pourquoi c'est important
Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket has launched three times since its maiden flight in January 2025. The company is developing a more powerful 9×4 variant (nine first stage engines, four upper stage engines) called Quattro, needed for NASA's Artemis lunar program. The most recent launch experienced an upper stage anomaly. Founder Jeff Bezos continues investing in Florida infrastructure, including an 800,000-square-foot facility called Project Horizon.
Earlier this week, Blue Origin posted a job opportunity for a "senior manager" to oversee tank fabrication for "Quattro," and the description contained some intriguing information. "As part of a hardworking team of specialists, technicians, and engineers you will be the Senior Manager of Gen 2.0 Tank Fabrication, and will own the production execution of the most structurally complex and schedule-critical subsystem on the vehicle—the propellant tank," the job posting states. Quattro is the company's nickname for a more powerful upper stage for the New Glenn rocket, which will feature four BE-3U engines instead of the two currently powering the booster. Blue Origin revealed plans for this more powerful variant of New Glenn, 9×4 (nine first stage engines, and four upper stage engines), last November. It is possible this rocket, significantly larger than the 7×2 variant currently flying and necessary for the company's lunar ambitions as part of NASA's Artemis program, could make its debut next year.
Get ready to ramp production
There is some additional information in the posting that underscores the ambition Blue Origin is chasing with its New Glenn vehicle, which has launched three times since its initial flight in January 2025. The job responsibilities include executing a "rate ramp"—which is to say, a production rate—of 12 per year currently to 60 per year by the third quarter of 2028, followed by a production rate of 100 second stages annually by 2029. A company official told Ars that these production targets are accurate. For the time being, Blue Origin is still studying whether to pursue a reusable upper stage for New Glenn, so each launch of the vehicle requires a new upper stage. A production rate of 60 a year in 2028 suggests the company is targeting a launch rate of 60 New Glenn 9×4 rockets annually just three years from now. That would be in addition to the 7×2 variant currently flying, which would continue to be used for less demanding missions.
Building lots of infrastructure
These targets, of course, are overly optimistic. Before the year 2025, for example, Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos told the company he wanted New Glenn to launch eight times that year. It ended up flying twice, in January and November. And frankly, for such a large and new rocket, that is not a bad flight rate at all, especially with the company landing the first stage of the second New Glenn launch successfully. The company is also dealing with an upper stage anomaly on the most recent launch of New Glenn earlier this month. So no one should be penciling in several dozen launches a year before the end of this decade just yet. However, it would also be foolish to dismiss Blue Origin's aspiration to launch the super heavy lift rocket frequently. Bezos continues to make major investments in infrastructure in Florida, most recently in an 800,000-square-foot new manufacturing facility known as "Project Horizon." It is possible that New Glenn second stages could be manufactured at this facility. And if you want to be the person responsible for building 100 tanks a year for these stages, it sounds like Blue Origin has a job open for you.
Questions ouvertes
- Will Blue Origin achieve the 60 launch target by 2028?
- What caused the upper stage anomaly on the most recent launch?
- Will Blue Origin pursue reusable upper stage?
- How will the 7×2 variant coexist with 9×4?
