Boeing and Lockheed Martin’s joint venture United Launch Alliance (ULA) has teamed-up with Blue Origin to fund development of a new BE-4 rocket engine.

The two companies have agreed upon a four-year development process wherein a full-scale testing will be carried out in 2016. The first flight of the rocket is expected to be in 2019.

The collaboration will allow ULA to address the long-term need for a new domestic engine for ULA’s rocket families Atlas and Delta, the companies said.

"This agreement ensures ULA will remain the most cost-efficient, innovative and reliable company launching the nation’s most important national security, civil, human and commercial missions."

Rockets are currently dependent on Russian made RD-180 engines. The successful development of BE-4 would enable the replacement of the Russian parts with the domestic ones at a time when the US has imposed economic sanctions on Russia.

The BE-4 uses liquid oxygen and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to function and delivers a thrust of 550,000lb at sea level. Each ULA booster will be powered by two engines which will provide a thrust of 1,100,000lb at liftoff.

ULA president and CEO Tory Bruno said: "This agreement ensures ULA will remain the most cost-efficient, innovative and reliable company launching the nation’s most important national security, civil, human and commercial missions.

"Blue Origin has demonstrated its ability to develop high-performance rocket engines and we are excited to bring together the best minds in engineering, supply chain management and commercial business practices to create an all-new affordable, reliable, American rocket engine that will create endless possibilities for the future of space launch."

Once developed, the engine will be available for national security, civil, human and commercial missions.

Blue Origin and Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos said: "The team at Blue Origin is methodically developing technologies to enable human access to space at dramatically lower cost and increased reliability, and the BE-4 is a big step forward.
"With the new ULA partnership, we’re accelerating commercial development of the next great US-made rocket engine."

Blue origin has recently commissioned a new test facility for the engine.

Defence Technology