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> crash after crash and explosion after explosion. Are you maybe confusing launch failures with landing failures? As far as I know SpaceX has had two major fa

> crash after crash and explosion after explosion. Are you maybe confusing launch failures with landing failures? As far as I know SpaceX has had two major failures since they started flying Falcon 9. CRS-7 (second stage failure during flight) and AMOS6 (second stage failure during static fire on the pad). They had another minor failure where they lost an engine but still delivered the primary payload to the ISS. I believe SpaceX has had more successful Falcon 9 launches after the AMOS6 failure than before it. So they've doubled their flight count without another failure. Someone else brought up ZUMA which has been reported to be a failure of the payload provider (Northrup Grumman)'s specialized payload adapter which failed to release the payload correctly. SpaceX has had a lot of videos of rockets crashing into barges and the ocean but those were experimental tests which weren't expected to succeed initially and which have no bearing on the success of the mission. They made those videos public even though there was no need to. Probably both for PR reasons and because it's cool to see the attempts and failures leading up to their landing success. Holding those crashes against SpaceX is like holding crash test videos against an auto manufacturer because "their cars keep crashing".

rory096 8y ago
>Are you maybe confusing launch failures with landing failures? I don't think they're confusing them, but rather they're worried that consumers might confuse them. SpaceX's videos of their landing experiments got a ton of space fans excited about them, but it very well may have created an association of SpaceX with explosions in the average layman's mind. Blue, meanwhile, while it hasn't penetrated the public consciousness yet, deliberately projects an image of conservatism and caution. (That said, it seems unlikely that someone so uninformed would be a potential customer.)
- mkirklions 8y ago
  >it seems unlikely that someone so uninformed would be a potential customer. I couldnt believe my programming friend bought into the Elon hype. Has 3k of stock and bought a tesla. Even smart people have weaknesses and overlook things. I remember being an Elon fan until I saw on front page reddit: "TESLA QUIETLY SOLAR PANELS PURTO RICO" And it turned out to be a reddit astroturfing/vote manip thread. And then I couldnt unsee, so many threads advertising his projects. Elon is a marketer.
  - azernik 8y ago
    Tesla customers are laying out $70k for a car that they will personally drive. SpaceX customers are laying out $50-80M to put a $100-200M piece of hardware into orbit. It's the latter we're talking about in this thread.
- stetrain 8y ago
  Good point about the potential perception issue. I do think that the Falcon Heavy launch was a huge PR win for them, and probably has made a much larger impact that Blue's lack of explosion videos.
- stirlo 8y ago
  I feel the kind of consumers able to afford space tourist flights would also do extensive research before putting down their money. Forming a perception based on some amusing YouTube videos should surely be discounted by a myriad of other factors.

rory096 8y ago

>Are you maybe confusing launch failures with landing failures? I don't think they're confusing them, but rather they're worried that consumers might confuse them. SpaceX's videos of their landing experiments got a ton of space fans excited about them, but it very well may have created an association of SpaceX with explosions in the average layman's mind. Blue, meanwhile, while it hasn't penetrated the public consciousness yet, deliberately projects an image of conservatism and caution. (That said, it seems unlikely that someone so uninformed would be a potential customer.)

mkirklions 8y ago
>it seems unlikely that someone so uninformed would be a potential customer. I couldnt believe my programming friend bought into the Elon hype. Has 3k of stock and bought a tesla. Even smart people have weaknesses and overlook things. I remember being an Elon fan until I saw on front page reddit: "TESLA QUIETLY SOLAR PANELS PURTO RICO" And it turned out to be a reddit astroturfing/vote manip thread. And then I couldnt unsee, so many threads advertising his projects. Elon is a marketer.
- azernik 8y ago
  Tesla customers are laying out $70k for a car that they will personally drive. SpaceX customers are laying out $50-80M to put a $100-200M piece of hardware into orbit. It's the latter we're talking about in this thread.
stetrain 8y ago
Good point about the potential perception issue. I do think that the Falcon Heavy launch was a huge PR win for them, and probably has made a much larger impact that Blue's lack of explosion videos.
stirlo 8y ago
I feel the kind of consumers able to afford space tourist flights would also do extensive research before putting down their money. Forming a perception based on some amusing YouTube videos should surely be discounted by a myriad of other factors.