THE NEW SPACE RACE: Blue Origin engine explodes on test stand. “No big deal, ULA boss says … Tory Bruno, ULA’s CEO, said the BE-4 engine failed during an ‘acceptance test’ before Blue Origin was set to deliver it to ULA’s factory for integration with a Vulcan booster. The two BE-4 engines already integrated with ULA’s first Vulcan flight vehicle passed their acceptance testing, and engineers are confident in the engine’s design. Bruno said an explosion during an engine acceptance test is ‘relatively routine’ early in the engine’s production run. But this isn’t great news for ULA’s Vulcan rocket program, which is already dealing with an explosion that occurred during a ground test of the rocket’s Centaur V upper stage in March. That has pushed back the Vulcan rocket’s debut from mid-year to the end of 2023, at the earliest.”