Amazon’s Jeff Bezos will now sell rocket engines, too

Enlarge / Artist's rendering of a Vulcan Centaur rocket launch. (credit: United Launch Alliance)

After a four-year, high-profile competition, rocket maker United Launch Alliance announced Thursday that it has selected the BE-4 rocket engine manufactured by Blue Origin to power its new Vulcan Centaur rocket. The new space company founded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos defeated the most storied rocket engine manufacturer in the United States, Aerojet Rocketdyne, which is developing the AR1 engine.

"We are pleased to enter into this partnership with Blue Origin and look forward to a successful first flight of our next-generation launch vehicle," United Launch Alliance's chief executive, Tory Bruno, said in a statement Thursday. He added that the Vulcan rocket remains on track for an initial flight in mid-2020.

"We are very glad to have our BE-4 engine selected by United Launch Alliance," Blue Origin Chief Executive Bob Smith also said. "United Launch Alliance is the premier launch-service provider for national security missions, and we're thrilled to be part of [its] team and that mission. We can't thank Tory Bruno and the entire United Launch Alliance team enough for entrusting our engine to powering the Vulcan rocket's first stage."

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