Bezos BE-4
Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos poses with part of a BE-4 engine nozzle during a media tour of the company's headquarters in Kent, Washington, on March 8. Credit: SpaceNews photo by Jeff Foust

Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos hinted that tests of the company’s BE-4 engine will start soon.

Bezos, in an email update Monday on the company’s work on the engine, said he’ll provide more news as the testing of the BE-4 “progresses in the coming weeks.”

The company released images earlier this month of the first completed engine, which Bezos said was being prepared for shipment to the company’s West Texas test site.

Bezos, in the email update, primarily discussed the design of hydrostatic bearings used in the engine’s turbopump. [GeekWire]


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Jeff Foust writes about space policy, commercial space, and related topics for SpaceNews. He earned a Ph.D. in planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor’s degree with honors in geophysics and planetary science...