4 ms·

Does anyone remember Blue Origin? What are they even doing for a decade?

8 points by user90131313 2y ago

I dont understand how they are so behind?

wmf 2y ago
They hired the same "experienced" people who slowed down NASA, ULA, Boeing, etc.
bell-cot 2y ago
(A decade? Wikipedia says "Founded September 8, 2000".) BO is a rich man's hobby, kinda perpetually on-and-off struggling to re-imagine & re-invent itself as an A-list rocket company. But Rocket Science Is Hard. And Jeff's maxed-and-buffed stat is Online Retailing. He wouldn't be competent at Brain Surgery or Nuclear Physics, either.
ahazred8ta 2y ago
They're launching the EscaPADE Mars mission later this year. Their reusable booster lands vertically. They sell rocket engines to orher companies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EscaPADE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EscaPADE
solardev 2y ago
It seems like SpaceX is the exception here rather than the other way around. It's not just Blue Origin, but also Armadillo (John Carmack), Virgin Galactic (Richard Branson), and Scaled Composites Tier One (Paul Allen). See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billionaire_space_race?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billionaire_space_race?wprov=s... There are also a bunch of other smaller aerospace companies, but SpaceX seems to have won the majority of the launches and mindshare.
- runjake 2y ago
  I think that SpaceX just spends a lot more effort on PR and marketing (a good thing, not a bad thing), and they have a rather boisterous leader (Elon) which generates more awareness and excitement. In contrast, Blue Origin is spending very little, leading to people questioning whether they are still alive. Blue Origin is certainly out there doing stuff, as other commenters have mentioned.
  - solardev 2y ago
    That's a good point.
admissionsguy 2y ago
Europe is much worse and depressing. Envious of US people being able to work at companies such as SpaceX, I recently looked up what is done in the EU. So they are currently doing preliminary tests (Temis program) for a rocket design similar to Falcon 9 that may fly, maybe, in the 2030s, if there are no delays.

8 points by user90131313 2y ago

I dont understand how they are so behind?

wmf 2y ago

They hired the same "experienced" people who slowed down NASA, ULA, Boeing, etc.

bell-cot 2y ago

(A decade? Wikipedia says "Founded September 8, 2000".) BO is a rich man's hobby, kinda perpetually on-and-off struggling to re-imagine & re-invent itself as an A-list rocket company. But Rocket Science Is Hard. And Jeff's maxed-and-buffed stat is Online Retailing. He wouldn't be competent at Brain Surgery or Nuclear Physics, either.

ahazred8ta 2y ago

They're launching the EscaPADE Mars mission later this year. Their reusable booster lands vertically. They sell rocket engines to orher companies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EscaPADE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EscaPADE

solardev 2y ago

It seems like SpaceX is the exception here rather than the other way around. It's not just Blue Origin, but also Armadillo (John Carmack), Virgin Galactic (Richard Branson), and Scaled Composites Tier One (Paul Allen). See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billionaire_space_race?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billionaire_space_race?wprov=s... There are also a bunch of other smaller aerospace companies, but SpaceX seems to have won the majority of the launches and mindshare.

runjake 2y ago
I think that SpaceX just spends a lot more effort on PR and marketing (a good thing, not a bad thing), and they have a rather boisterous leader (Elon) which generates more awareness and excitement. In contrast, Blue Origin is spending very little, leading to people questioning whether they are still alive. Blue Origin is certainly out there doing stuff, as other commenters have mentioned.
- solardev 2y ago
  That's a good point.

admissionsguy 2y ago

Europe is much worse and depressing. Envious of US people being able to work at companies such as SpaceX, I recently looked up what is done in the EU. So they are currently doing preliminary tests (Temis program) for a rocket design similar to Falcon 9 that may fly, maybe, in the 2030s, if there are no delays.