4 ms·

BO is midway through building a new 1st stage engine for ULA's next-generation rocket, and the "tourist rocket" is intended to be the upper stage of BO's future

BO is midway through building a new 1st stage engine for ULA's next-generation rocket, and the "tourist rocket" is intended to be the upper stage of BO's future orbital launch system using that 1st stage engine. Sure, BO has a long way to go, but it's not that they're only doing the tourist rocket. Hey, I like SpaceX a lot, but that doesn't mean I'm going to judge BO only by what they have flying today.

mikeash 11y ago
I just don't get excited about such far off future stuff. It's neat, but until it's actually here, or at least imminent, it's nothing more than neat. I feel the same way about SpaceX's BFR and MCT. I'm not judging BO, I'm sure they know what they're doing and their future plans look pretty good from what I know. But given the large difference in current achievements, I'd hope it wouldn't be too big of a surprise why someone would get excited about what SpaceX is doing but not BO.
- greglindahl 11y ago
  Are you really contributing to the conversation when you leave out important stuff (like everything BO is working on), and then, when challenged, call something that's scheduled to be flight qualified in 2017 "far off future stuff"? I'm all for you being excited about whatever excites you, but when I read HN, that's not really what I'm hoping to read about.
  - mikeash 11y ago
    Are you referring to the BE-4 engine as the thing that's scheduled to be flight qualified in 2017? Sorry, a new engine doesn't really excite me either. A new rocket would. It looks like their orbital rocket is scheduled for 2020 at the moment. As for not wanting to read about what excites me, the comment up there explicitly asked why people aren't excited for both companies, and I answered the question. If that's not what you want to read about, I think you took a wrong turn.

4 ms·

BO is midway through building a new 1st stage engine for ULA's next-generation rocket, and the "tourist rocket" is intended to be the upper stage of BO's future

by greglindahl 11y ago

mikeash 11y ago
I just don't get excited about such far off future stuff. It's neat, but until it's actually here, or at least imminent, it's nothing more than neat. I feel the same way about SpaceX's BFR and MCT. I'm not judging BO, I'm sure they know what they're doing and their future plans look pretty good from what I know. But given the large difference in current achievements, I'd hope it wouldn't be too big of a surprise why someone would get excited about what SpaceX is doing but not BO.
- greglindahl 11y ago
  Are you really contributing to the conversation when you leave out important stuff (like everything BO is working on), and then, when challenged, call something that's scheduled to be flight qualified in 2017 "far off future stuff"? I'm all for you being excited about whatever excites you, but when I read HN, that's not really what I'm hoping to read about.
  - mikeash 11y ago
    Are you referring to the BE-4 engine as the thing that's scheduled to be flight qualified in 2017? Sorry, a new engine doesn't really excite me either. A new rocket would. It looks like their orbital rocket is scheduled for 2020 at the moment. As for not wanting to read about what excites me, the comment up there explicitly asked why people aren't excited for both companies, and I answered the question. If that's not what you want to read about, I think you took a wrong turn.