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EntityQ18205470· pop 12· linked from 232 articles

BE-3 (Blue Engine 3) is a cryogenic rocket engine using liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as propellants. Blue Origin began BE-3 development in the early 2010s and the engine completed acceptance testing in early 2015. The BE-3PM variant is used on the New Shepard suborbital rocket, which made its first test flight on April 29, 2015, and had its first crewed flight on July 20, 2021. The BE-3U variant is used on the second stage of the New Glenn orbital rocket, which made its inaugural flight on January 16, 2025.

Key facts

Rocket engine.name
BE-3U
Rocket engine.image
Blue Origins BE-3 Rocket Engine.jpg
Rocket engine.caption
A BE-3PM engine undergoing testing
Rocket engine.country_of_origin
United States
Rocket engine.designer
Blue Origin
Rocket engine.manufacturer
Blue Origin
Rocket engine.associated
New Glenn
Rocket engine.status
In production
Rocket engine.type
liquid
Rocket engine.oxidizer
LOX
Rocket engine.cycle
Expander
Rocket engine.throttle_range
75–100%
Rocket engine.combustion_chamber
1
Rocket engine.thrust_to_weight
90:1

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Country of origin
United States
Followed by
BE-4
Developer
Blue Origin
Manufacturer
Blue Origin
Image
Blue Origins BE-3 Rocket Engine.jpg
Show 1 more fact
Commons category
BE-3 (rocket engine)
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

~6 min read

Encyclopedic overview

8 sections
Contents
  • History
  • Engine design
  • BE-3PM
  • BE-3U
  • Technical specifications
  • See also
  • References
  • External links

BE-3 (Blue Engine 3) is a cryogenic rocket engine using liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen as propellants. Blue Origin began BE-3 development in the early 2010s and the engine completed acceptance testing in early 2015. The BE-3PM variant is used on the New Shepard suborbital rocket, which made its first test flight on April 29, 2015, and had its first crewed flight on July 20, 2021. The BE-3U variant is used on the second stage of the New Glenn orbital rocket, which made its inaugural flight on January 16, 2025.

== History ==

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “BE-3” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.