Posted on 04/19/2026 9:19:32 AM PDT by srmanuel
Jeff Bezos just posted on Twitter/X that Blue Origin has successfully landed a booster and posted a video of the landing. The first person to congratulate him was Elon Musk....
https://x.com/JeffBezos/status/2045874068763632017
Kind of amazing that two US private companies have successfully landed boosters, but no other space agency or country has duplicated the feat, not Russia, China, EU, etc.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
They’ve made it to about 2019 in Elon time!
It’s a lot easier to duplicate once somebody has proven it to be possible. ...otherwise, it’s just a “crazy idea”.
The RC Cola of space.
Good one!
The purple hair crowd isn’t going to like seeing two billionaires doing amazing things. Ha Ha.
Musk will have a Base on Pluto before Bezos gets started ,LOL
I guess that makes Boeing the [Store Brand Name] Cola.
Great Value Cola... Lol.
I would love to cheer Capitalism In Space, but the almost lackadaisical pace at Blue Origin is disturbing. Eventually there will be many more rocket/launch companies. There are at least 4 private space stations in the works.
Capitalism In Space by Bob Zimmerman
Here is the PDF link
For all thing space, aerospace, and lots of other real science, I read Behind The Black every day. Some of the commenters on each article are also highly educational.
I don’t; want to subscribe!!! Phooey!!
Canada and the EU in an attempt to distance themselves from the US have stated their intentions to build Starlink type networks, it’s impossible given their current launch capabilities, Canada has ZERO launch ability, and the EU simply can’t get rockets into space in a timely manner especially when they can’t land and then reuse boosters.
I think Blue Origin’s goals are much less grand than SpaceX, I think their opportunity to provide launch capabilities to other countries will fairly large going forward, add in private satellite launches, there should be enough business to go around.
Here’s a YouTube Link that has just gone up. The landing almost doesn’t look real, pretty amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hBJLbzzbQ0E
SpaceX HLS: Heavy transport & once Moon colony ops really get underway, crew rotations up to Gateway for return to Earth via Orion capsule. HLS requires massive fueling once it reaches low-Earth orbit. HLS can make only one Moon landing and ascent per each low-Earth fueling & reloading with cargo.
Blue Origin lander: This lander is like a larger, upgraded version of the Apollo LEM. Launches directly from Earth to the Moon, no on-orbit fueling necessary. The cargo capacity is considerably less than HLS; however, the Origin lander is ideal for providing an initial Moon habitat, as it can land and stay.
SpaceX & Blue Origin are indeed competitors - but friendly competitors. Once Moon ops get underway, each company has specific contracts let by NASA with specific functions to perform, all integrated, along with Orion, under the main Artemis Moon program umbrella.
They, along with a host of other foreign gov’t. & private contractors, all work together per the master plan
One of the things about the launch industry is that there is still more demand than capacity.
As of mid-April 2026, SpaceX has completed about 644 successful launches out of 656 total attempts across all of its rockets. That includes the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Starship.
For landings, SpaceX has achieved roughly 598 successful Falcon-family booster landings in 611 attempts. Some counts list only Falcon 9 boosters, which stand at around 581 successful Falcon 9 landings specifically.
If you include only orbital-class rocket launches and booster landings:
Successful launches: about 644
Successful booster landings: about 598
It’s only going to keep growing.
Moon ops will grow exponentially, if everything proceeds w/o a major technical or publicity failure.
If Democrats and their major media lapdogs perceive the Moon ops to be Trump & Republican successes, look for them to fight it and attempt to shut things down. At the least, they will try to point to hungry people starving b/c Trump is wasting all the money on the Moon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JItDo5Y7GZs
Off nominal orbit for AST satellite.
LOL!
I read that headline and thought Yeah? They have a ton of catching up to do!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.