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Blue Origin thread.


Vanamonde

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  • 1 month later...
5 minutes ago, Scotius said:

Competition! It's a good thing... as long as it doesn't snowball into Kessler Syndrome.

Building and operating cleaning probes will probably be economically profitable after big companies begin to lose satellites. I think Kessler syndrome will not be huge issue anymore at near future launch prices, but nobody will act before it is necessary to keep business running.

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15 hours ago, Hannu2 said:

Building and operating cleaning probes will probably be economically profitable after big companies begin to lose satellites. I think Kessler syndrome will not be huge issue anymore at near future launch prices, but nobody will act before it is necessary to keep business running.

For satellites used for lower latency broadband, expect them to be in LEO.  Satellites in that region will burn up in the atmosphere if not regularly given boosts and debris should fall much faster.

Starlink has a small number of satellites that are far above the main constellation (presumably for inter-bird communication), but the emphasis is a small number compared to the full constellation.  Presumably Blue Origin will do a similar thing (or else people will complain about the latency).

Kessler syndrome is a bit overblown, as most satellites are in regions where it would be both difficult to achieve and would clear it self out in a few years anyway.  Out beyond that, it would require far more satellites than we can possibly launch (although who knows if competition between Starship and New Armstrong heats up).  Geosynchronous orbit is also a special case where some of the most valuable satellites parade in an almost exactly similar orbit, so boosting them into the graveyard orbit is critical.  I wouldn't be too surprised if one of them fails and has to be captured and removed (the time requirements wouldn't be *that* bad.  Geosync  is a loooong way out there so collisions between satellites even in "the same" orbit would be unlikely).

Edited by wumpus
s^ISS^LEO using ISS as an example orbit and didn't fix before hitting send...
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5 hours ago, tater said:

Its surprising they haven't had any major leaks given the buzz about their projects. It does seem like they have decided to take the more traditional approach of lobbying hard for big projects and then sitting on them as long as possible. 

 

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6 hours ago, tater said:

Why are they so gradatim?

I will happily consider myself a Blue Origin fan (and get a shirt to match) when they get something into orbit.

Don't get me wrong, I'm really excited for New Glenn, and appreciate everyone doing something to further the cause of spaceflight, but surely they could have done it faster? Taking it slow and steady is all well and good, but 20 years without any orbital launch capability is taking it a bit far, IMO. At least we have hardware, which hopefully means something real to look forward to in the near future.

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Well, when Mr Musky founded SpaceX, he had to make the company make profit immediately; he couldn't have kept it afloat without launch contracts coming in near in the future. So he hurried along with the Falcon series, and used the destructive testing approach combined with a big PR effort.

As he just demonstrated, Jeff Bezos does not have that problem. Hence, ferociter graditim.

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7 minutes ago, SOXBLOX said:

Well, when Mr Musky founded SpaceX, he had to make the company make profit immediately; he couldn't have kept it afloat without launch contracts coming in near in the future. So he hurried along with the Falcon series, and used the destructive testing approach combined with a big PR effort.

PR? Not much other than just streaming stuff on YouTube, and telling people what the plan is when asked.

You're right about needing a business model that actually resulted in an immediate customer. Still, the total F9 dev cost was chump change compared to BO's annual budget.

Bezos has a Soviet style PR machine by comparison.

 

7 minutes ago, SOXBLOX said:

As he just demonstrated, Jeff Bezos does not have that problem. Hence, ferociter graditim.

I understand "checking all the boxes," but BO is slow well beyond that. A small group with a limited budget moves slowly because there's a lot of work to do, and not enough money to speed it along. If you have effectively infinite money, you'd think they'd at least be "not slow." They don't have to blow up a different design iteration very month f=to be "fast," I mean just being even slightly faster than slow, lol.

Look at NS. There's no reason that thing could not have been fully operational by now. I understand the idea that it's less of a priority with NG in the works, but it's not like they can't throw money at both.

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  • 2 weeks later...
2 hours ago, mikegarrison said:

LOL on the follow comments:

"That hanger looks just like Space-X's"

(reply) "It's a metal box with a door on it."

But...but....but SpaceX invented metal boxes first! It's not fair! :lol:

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2 hours ago, tater said:

Blue delivers a pretend vehicle to NASA

Hey, mockups are very important.

These days many companies make their mockups digitally, using CATIA or something like it, but in some cases a physical mockup is still the best solution.

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3 minutes ago, mikegarrison said:

Hey, mockups are very important.

These days many companies make their mockups digitally, using CATIA or something like it, but in some cases a physical mockup is still the best solution.

I know, I just felt the need to dunk on the richest guy on Earth being so... gradual.

Mockups are entirely useful. Not sure how much training they can do before any selection is made, but once that's a thing, the mockup is hugely important.

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1 hour ago, tater said:

I know, I just felt the need to dunk on the richest guy on Earth being so... gradual.

Mockups are entirely useful. Not sure how much training they can do before any selection is made, but once that's a thing, the mockup is hugely important.

"Gradatim gradatim", so they say.

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