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People regularly forget the distant second private rocket company after SpaceX is Rocket Lab, with no one else close. Blue Origin is almost completely irreleva
by someperson 3y ago
People regularly forget the distant second private rocket company after SpaceX is Rocket Lab, with no one else close.
Blue Origin is almost completely irrelevant. Jeff Bezos may buy United Launch Alliance, but it likely won't help given Blue Origin's abysmal track record.
Amazon's Project Kuiper (the Starlink competitor) has no affordable launch provider since they're avoiding SpaceX, so it's also dead in the water.
- chasd00 3y agoWhat happened at blue origin? Is it just a hobby and not a business?
- jwells89 3y agoWhile I can’t confirm since I haven’t worked there and am not in the industry, I’ve read that one of the biggest issues Blue Origin is dealing with is trouble with retaining talent. One article I read couple years back called it a revolving door if I recall correctly. If that’s true there’s likely major managerial or structural issues that are gumming things up.
- oh_sigh 3y agoSounds just like some of Jeff's other ventures
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- dmd 3y agoLots of people aren’t aware that Blue Origin hasn’t had even one launch to orbit yet. Or even a failed attempt. They literally haven’t left the starting line yet.
- somenameforme 3y agoAnd that they were founded before SpaceX. It really emphasizes that space remains an extremely difficult industry, which makes all the recent progress even more exciting.
- sangnoir 3y agoThere seems to be decent business in suborbital niche.
- physicles 3y agoThe current lame duck CEO, Bob Smith, was pretty unpopular and ineffective. We’ll see if his replacement is any better. From [0]: > As a space reporter, I have spoken with dozens of current and former Blue Origin employees, and virtually none of them have had anything positive to say about Smith's tenure as chief executive. I asked one current employee about the hiring of Limp on Monday afternoon, and their response was, "Anything is better than Bob." [0]: https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/09/bob-smith-is-finally-gone-from-blue-origin-his-replacement-comes-from-amazon/ https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/09/bob-smith-is-finally-g...
- GuB-42 3y agoI tend not to think of Rocket Lab as an American company as it was founded in New Zealand. But considering that its is mostly growing in the US now, maybe it is after all.
- jasonwatkinspdx 3y agoIt's incorporated in the US, headquartered in CA, and traded on NASDAQ so it's definitely a US company, just one with a NZ heritage.
- dash2 3y ago[Cries in UK at how great companies feel they have to move to America to succeed]
- konschubert 3y ago[Would like to cry in EU, but can't because Threads is blocked.]
- was_a_dev 3y agoMost folks don't realise that RocketLab is also more than just a launch provider. They have diversified into providing their own satellite platform, Photon. Which I think, in itself, is a innovative product for space. It is the platform NASA is using for the upcoming ESCAPADE mission to Mars. And it was used for the CAPSTONE Lunar mission, for example.
- the_third_wave 3y agoBezos has one advantage while the current regime in in place: he is not Musk, he is ideologically aligned and as such can get favours without much pressure on actually delivering. As to whether Amazon's Spacelink competitor will be launched depends on whether BO can get their New Glenn rocket - a Falcon 9 competitor - up and running. If they do they should be able to 'launch their own dogfood' just like SpaceX is doing with Starlink on Falcon 9.