NASA and Blue Origin Collaborate for New Glenn Rocket Testing at Historic Facility
NASA and Blue Origin have announced a partnership to conduct hot fire testing of the New Glenn rocket's second stage at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. This collaboration is part of a reimbursable Space Act Agreement aimed at supporting Artemis missions planned for 2027 and beyond. The testing will take place on the historic B-2 test stand, which was originally built for the Apollo Program's Saturn V rocket stages and has since been used for major propulsion milestones, including the Space Launch System core stage Green Run testing before Artemis I. The New Glenn rocket, named after NASA astronaut John Glenn, features a second stage powered by two BE-3 engines using liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propellants, each producing 200,000 pounds of thrust in vacuum.