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Delta Clipper landed 25 years ago, too. Vertical landings of suborbital rockets aren't anything new. Reuse of orbital rockets are. Blue Origin has accomplished
by lutorm 4y ago
Delta Clipper landed 25 years ago, too. Vertical landings of suborbital rockets aren't anything new. Reuse of orbital rockets are.
Blue Origin has accomplished practically nothing compared to SpaceX, even if they "landed a rocket before SpaceX". In the 7 years since New Shephard first flew, they've not flown anything new. To this date, BO has not launched a single gram into orbit.
For comparison, 7 years after Falcon 1 first flew in 2006, SpaceX had flown F9 v1.1 and had built a spacecraft that flew to the ISS.
- runarberg 4y agoThat is to be expected since SpaceX is where all the NASA funding went along with most of the talent previously working on VTVL technology. It is not hard to imagine an alternative world where Elon Musk had nothing to do with the SpaceX company and the same achievements would have been reach. Or even an alternative world where the NASA funding would have gone to a completely different company, or—yet even—a world where NASA would have developed this technology them selfs (hiring the same experts off course). All is to say that Elon Musk is not some essential figure in the development of VTVL rockets. Rocket engineers would have developed it regardless in any world where the Space Shuttle is sunset.