Enlarge / An artist’s rendering of a New Glenn rocket in flight. (credit: Blue Origin)
In late May, a rumor concerning Blue Origin’s large New Glenn rocket broke on several social media sites frequented by spaceflight enthusiasts.
According to the rumor, Blue Origin was changing the primary structural material of its new rocket from an aluminum alloy to stainless steel. The social media posts sparked considerable interest, as they implied that the company would mimic a competitor in its choice of materials—SpaceX’s Starship and Super Heavy are made primarily from stainless steel. Moreover, such a change also augured further delays in the New Glenn development program, which was already years behind schedule.
At the time, I checked with a source and found the rumor to be false. New Glenn was not swapping its first stage to stainless steel.
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