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compromiseisfutile t1_j25duyj wrote

Reply to comment by ACCount82 in SpaceX launches 54 upgraded Starlink internet satellites and nails rocket landing at sea in 60th flight of the year by ovirt001

Is blue origin even considered a serious competitor anymore ? It seems like SpaceX is just miles ahead of them at this point

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gopher65 t1_j25g51m wrote

We don't know yet who will be future contenders. There are many possibilities, like Rocket Lab and Relativity. Blue is so well funded compared to most other space companies (or even divisions of big companies) that they're likely to survive in some capacity. Whether that's as an engine maker like Aerojet, a station or tug manufacturer, or a rocket company, or all of the above... we'll see.

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Enjoyitbeforeitsover t1_j27vzyx wrote

At the end of the day Blue Origin got Bezos somewhere up there. William Shatner seemed like he just took some Psilocybin shrooms and had the same look of excitement

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tanrgith t1_j25xez5 wrote

They never were and they won't be anytime soon

Like, even if BO manages to get their New Glenn rocket flying within the next few years and SpaceX fails at making Starship, it would take years and years before BO builds up the experience and capability to launch rockets at the kind of cadence that SpaceX is able to do it right now

And if SpaceX's Starship actually becomes operational and can be launched for less than a 100 million (which is far more than any reasonable estimate for a fully reusable rocket system), then no one is touching SpaceX for decades

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tms102 t1_j280lu5 wrote

I remember when blue origin tweeted "welcome to the club" or something like that when SpaceX landed their booster for the first time after and orbital mission. It seems even more ridiculous now.

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compromiseisfutile t1_j290ey5 wrote

Hadn’t SpaceX already achieved that many times before bezos tweeted it?

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tms102 t1_j29ir6b wrote

I don't think so. But the thing is SpaceX was attempting landings while doing actual missions and going to orbit. While blue origin only did like a relatively medium hop and landing at that point with a prototype vehicle.

So it was a pretty ridiculous tweet anyway.

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mooslar t1_j25fqcx wrote

They honestly never have been. Only on paper when discussing future plans. They’ve never even gone to orbit.

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compromiseisfutile t1_j25o7l7 wrote

I wonder how Jeff bezos feels about his company being pretty irrelevant next to SpaceX. It wouldn’t surprise me if he is delusional enough to think they’ll actually catch up to them in the near term

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Jaker788 t1_j28fxzc wrote

They're older than SpaceX by a couple years too.

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I_Has_A_Hat t1_j25i7cm wrote

It's like asking if a golf cart company is a serious competitor to Ford.

IIRC, Blue Origin can't even get anything into orbit. Their rockets basically go up, kiss space for a moment, and then go back down. This was a few years ago so maybe they've developed beyond that, but what is even the point when that's all you can accomplish?

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AgreeableTurtle69 t1_j25ls5x wrote

They have an entirely different niche imo. They should focus on tourist flights 100% and make it all about space tourism.

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Jaker788 t1_j28g8ix wrote

The problem is they wanted to go orbital all along. They thought the suborbital ride was a stepping stone in technology and would ultimately get them there smoother than SpaceX. It turned out their engines were a dead end and didn't help in developing BE-4, it also did nothing with the tech of landing an orbital class booster going much faster and on a parabolic arc.

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tomatotomato t1_j27eqcv wrote

I wonder why Blue Origin is moving so slowly. They have almost infinite funding from Bezos and still weren't able to deliver for many years.

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Lanky-Awareness-7450 t1_j27n0uy wrote

Blue Origins is only a competitor in Jeff Bezos mind. For everyone else, BO has lived up to it’s initials…. they just stink.

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UniversalMomentum t1_j25u0lv wrote

I think 3d printing might make it so it's not that hard to get to SpaceX levels of cheap and beyond without as much specialized hardware, especially for the smaller more common payloads.

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Tricky_Invite8680 t1_j26wqkd wrote

3d printing to withstand temperatures and pressures of space vehicles, technically extruding metal is 3d printing but other, cheaper, forms seem would suffer from inherent material defects.

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NickGerrz t1_j26ypyo wrote

Two different space companies. Blue origin focuses more on tourist recreation as far as I can tell.

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