Blue Origin said Nov. 5 it has developed a third stage for its New Glenn rocket, called GS3, and a new first-stage engine named Northstar, according to Space.com and Spaceflight Now^1,2.

The company said GS3 is meant to send payloads more directly toward geostationary orbit, the moon and deep space^1,2. Spaceflight Now reported that Chief Executive Dave Limp made the announcement at an invite-only Up.Summit event at NASA's Kennedy Space Center².

New Glenn now flies as a two-stage vehicle. The reusable first stage uses seven BE-4 engines, and the second stage uses two BE-3Us, Space.com reported¹. Blue Origin is also developing a larger 9x4 version with nine BE-4s and four BE-3Us¹.

GS3 is powered by one BE-7 engine, the same type Blue Origin built for its Blue Moon lunar lander^1,2. The company said Blue Moon landing missions will not need GS3, but that the stage can support operations around the moon by sending more mass to trans-lunar injection^1,2.

Spaceflight Now cited company figures of up to 14 metric tons to geostationary orbit and 20 metric tons to trans-lunar injection on the 9x4, and up to 8 metric tons to GEO and 10 metric tons to TLI on the 7x2². It said GS3 uses the same payload adapters and fairing as the two-stage rocket².

Blue Origin said an unnamed government customer has booked a GS3 flight to cislunar space targeting 2028^1,2.

The company said it has already pressure-tested a GS3 liquid hydrogen tank at Launch Site One in Texas, including 2.5 hours at full expected operating pressure, Spaceflight Now reported, and that the tank is expected to be the first composite liquid-hydrogen tank flown in space².

Northstar burns liquid oxygen and methane, like BE-4^1,2. Blue Origin said it cuts mass by 30% and parts count by 50% versus BE-4 while raising thrust from 640,000 to 715,000 pounds-force, and that engines can be assembled in less than a day^1,2. The company said the program moved from approval to development testing in 11 months^1,2.

Spaceflight Now, citing a person familiar with the work, said Northstar would be compatible with New Glenn 9x4 and that BE-4 would still fly on the next mission². Neither report said when Northstar would fly^1,2.

New Glenn has flown three times in the 7x2 configuration¹. Space.com noted that the April 19, 2026, flight put AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7 in the wrong orbit and that a May 28 engine test explosion damaged the Cape Canaveral pad; a fourth flight is expected late this year^1,2.