TO REUSE OR NOT REUSE—THE ETERNAL DEBATE OF NEW GLENN'S SECOND STAGE REIGNITES

Summary from the TLDR newsletter

Blue Origin engineers have been debating for over 15 years whether the upper stage of New Glenn should be fully reusable or to ruthlessly cut its manufacturing costs. A new job posting for a director of upper stage development suggests that the debate may be swinging back toward reusing the upper stage. With the planned upgrade to New Glenn, an upper stage may cost around $100 million to manufacture, putting pressure on the company to find a pathway to reuse. Upper stage reuse is still a new field, so the new director has their work cut out for them.