"Standing on a seaside launch pad, the New Glenn rocket ignited its seven BE-4 main engines at 9:59 pm EDT Thursday (01:59 UTC Friday). The engines burned for 38 seconds while the rocket remained firmly on the ground, according to a social media post by Blue Origin. The hold-down firing of the first stage engines was the final major test of the New Glenn rocket before launch day. Blue Origin previously test-fired the rocket's second-stage engines."
"Blue Origin, the space company owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, said the engines operated at full power for 22 seconds, generating nearly 3.9 million pounds of thrust. Limp said engineers extended this test-firing and shut down some of the BE-4 engines to simulate the booster's landing burn sequence, which Blue Origin hopes will culminate in a successful touchdown on a barge floating downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. "This helps us understand fluid interactions between active and inactive engine feedlines during landing," Limp wrote."
Blue Origin test-fired New Glenn's seven BE-4 first-stage engines in a hold-down hot fire at Cape Canaveral, burning for 38 seconds. The engines reached full power for 22 seconds and produced nearly 3.9 million pounds of thrust while the rocket remained on the pad. Engineers extended the firing and shut down selected engines to simulate landing-burn sequences and study fluid interactions between active and inactive feedlines. The hold-down firing completed major ground tests ahead of the second flight, which sources say could occur as soon as November 9. Blue Origin intends to recover and reuse the first-stage booster on a future lunar mission.
Read at Ars Technica
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