Boeing and Blue Origin "teaming up" and taking digs at SpaceX.
Full article here: https://www.cnet.com/news/jeff-bezos...r-than-spacex/
https://arstechnica.com/science/2018...-as-too-small/
Full article here: https://www.cnet.com/news/jeff-bezos...r-than-spacex/
The weird advantage Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin says it has on SpaceX
If you thought those SpaceX drone ship landing pads were cool, Blue Origin says you're going to love its rocket landing technique. It involves a seafaring ship that'll catch a returning booster without stopping.
Blue Origin, owned by Amazon founder and current billionaire king Jeff Bezos, revealed Sunday that it hopes to gain a competitive advantage over Elon Musk and his SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets by keeping some motion in the ocean.
During the webcast of Sunday's eighth test launch of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket, host Ariane Cornell filled some time during a countdown hold by talking about the space company's upcoming New Glenn rocket. New Glenn is a larger launch system that will be able to send satellites and other payloads to orbit, making it a more direct competitor for SpaceX. The Shepard rocket is designed to take adventurous tourists on suborbital flights to the edge of space.
Like the Falcon 9, New Glenn will be able to launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and then return to land on a ship at sea, but the Blue Origin ship won't be parked at a designated landing spot in the Atlantic. Instead it'll be in motion, plying the waters, even as New Glenn comes in for a landing.
"It's actually more stable than a barge out there, which means that we can actually launch and land in higher sea states," Cornell explained, throwing some not-so-subtle shade at SpaceX. "It means we can have a more reliable schedule for our customers." Cornell works for Blue Origin in business development and strategy.
If you thought those SpaceX drone ship landing pads were cool, Blue Origin says you're going to love its rocket landing technique. It involves a seafaring ship that'll catch a returning booster without stopping.
Blue Origin, owned by Amazon founder and current billionaire king Jeff Bezos, revealed Sunday that it hopes to gain a competitive advantage over Elon Musk and his SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets by keeping some motion in the ocean.
During the webcast of Sunday's eighth test launch of Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket, host Ariane Cornell filled some time during a countdown hold by talking about the space company's upcoming New Glenn rocket. New Glenn is a larger launch system that will be able to send satellites and other payloads to orbit, making it a more direct competitor for SpaceX. The Shepard rocket is designed to take adventurous tourists on suborbital flights to the edge of space.
Like the Falcon 9, New Glenn will be able to launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and then return to land on a ship at sea, but the Blue Origin ship won't be parked at a designated landing spot in the Atlantic. Instead it'll be in motion, plying the waters, even as New Glenn comes in for a landing.
"It's actually more stable than a barge out there, which means that we can actually launch and land in higher sea states," Cornell explained, throwing some not-so-subtle shade at SpaceX. "It means we can have a more reliable schedule for our customers." Cornell works for Blue Origin in business development and strategy.
Boeing slams the Falcon Heavy rocket as “too small”
Recently, Boeing created a website called "Watch US Fly" to promote its aerospace industry—a grab bag of everything from Chinese tariffs to President Trump's visit to the company's facilities in St. Louis. Among the most intriguing sections is one that promotes the company's Space Launch System rocket and argues that SpaceX's Falcon Heavy booster is "too small" for NASA's deep exploration program.
"The Falcon Heavy launch turned heads in February, but SpaceX's rocket is a smaller type of rocket that can't meet NASA's deep-space needs," the website states. "Once the Boeing-built SLS is operational, it will be the most powerful rocket ever built."
The Boeing site backs up this claim by quoting NASA's Bill Gerstenmaier, who talked about the differences between the SLS rocket and Falcon Heavy at a meeting of the NASA Advisory Council meeting in March. Gerstenmaier, the chief of NASA's human spaceflight program, said the SLS had "unique capabilities" that the Falcon Heavy rocket does not have. However, as Ars reported at the time, Gerstenmaier actually struggled to explain why NASA needed the SLS rocket because the space agency has not yet built anything that will take advantage of those capabilities.
The SLS promotional website also makes some questionable assertions. It speaks of the super-powerful SLS rocket as if it will soon exist. But the SLS booster is probably at least two years away from its maiden flight. Moreover, the version of the SLS rocket that flies in two years will not come close to being the "most powerful rocket ever built." That will come much later, if ever.
Recently, Boeing created a website called "Watch US Fly" to promote its aerospace industry—a grab bag of everything from Chinese tariffs to President Trump's visit to the company's facilities in St. Louis. Among the most intriguing sections is one that promotes the company's Space Launch System rocket and argues that SpaceX's Falcon Heavy booster is "too small" for NASA's deep exploration program.
"The Falcon Heavy launch turned heads in February, but SpaceX's rocket is a smaller type of rocket that can't meet NASA's deep-space needs," the website states. "Once the Boeing-built SLS is operational, it will be the most powerful rocket ever built."
The Boeing site backs up this claim by quoting NASA's Bill Gerstenmaier, who talked about the differences between the SLS rocket and Falcon Heavy at a meeting of the NASA Advisory Council meeting in March. Gerstenmaier, the chief of NASA's human spaceflight program, said the SLS had "unique capabilities" that the Falcon Heavy rocket does not have. However, as Ars reported at the time, Gerstenmaier actually struggled to explain why NASA needed the SLS rocket because the space agency has not yet built anything that will take advantage of those capabilities.
The SLS promotional website also makes some questionable assertions. It speaks of the super-powerful SLS rocket as if it will soon exist. But the SLS booster is probably at least two years away from its maiden flight. Moreover, the version of the SLS rocket that flies in two years will not come close to being the "most powerful rocket ever built." That will come much later, if ever.
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