Today, Blue Origin opened its rocket engine production facility in Huntsville, AL. The world-class engine manufacturing facility in The Rocket City will conduct high-rate production of the BE-4 and BE-3U engines.

These engines will undergo testing at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center on the historic Test Stand 4670. BE-7, our lunar landing engine, is also currently in test at NASA Marshall.

“At the core of every successful launch vehicle program are the engines that power those vehicles to space. Early on in Blue Origin’s history, we made a crucial decision to invest in developing the next generation of reusable rocket engines. And now, it’s an exciting time for Blue, our partners and this country – we are on the path to deliver on our promise to end the reliance on Russian made engines – and it’s all happening right here, right now, in the great state of Alabama. We couldn’t be prouder to call this our home for engine production,” said Bob Smith, CEO of Blue Origin.

The 350,000-SF facility will house the tooling, infrastructure equipment and operations required to manufacture the BE-4 liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueled rocket engine used in American orbital rockets. WMB-ROI (program management) handled all the process equipment and tooling planning, factory planning and logistics planning for the installation and set-up of the factory. WMB-Roi also created and managed facilitation budget and schedule for full implementation of all equipment and tooling stand up.

Blue will add more than 300 jobs to the local economy with an investment of over $200 million in the facility.