Jeff Bezos to Build Space Center

An anonymous reader writes "Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos will build a space facility in west Texas to develop a commercial suborbital spaceship. His space company, Blue Origin, is 'developing vehicles and technologies that, over time, will help enable an enduring human presence in space.'"

Comments

Fascinating

[Lord_Dweomer]

I have to say, what we may be witnessing is the birth of man's space age. The time when we will begin to populate space en masse.

I mean, look around. When you have several of the worlds extremely wealthy throwing money at something this big, independently (rather than teaming their efforts), you know that A. there's a SHITLOAD of money to be made, and B. that it has more than a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding because of the pure amount of money that is going to be thrown at it.

I know some people are worried about the privatization and commercialization of spaceflight, but I think those are perfectly fine methods of bringing this about. Properly regulate it and do it on a global scale. And always remember that populating space is a human quest, not a Bezos quest. He may get us there, but we all win in the end.

Re:Fascinating

[PhotoGuy]

When you have several of the worlds extremely wealthy throwing money at something this big, independently (rather than teaming their efforts), you know that A. there's a SHITLOAD of money to be made, and B. that it has more than a snowball's chance in hell of succeeding because of the pure amount of money that is going to be thrown at it.

While I wish this were true, I think that's pretty faulty logic. If this were the case, you'd see logical *investment* firms investing in space, which is pretty rare. Bezos, Branson(sp?), and others, have made more money through smart business, than they could possibly ever spend, and are now spending some on some "long shots" that may benefit the good of mankind.

I applaud these efforts, and any moves by people who are in a position to take some chances for the betterment of mankind.

But a sound business decision? I think not.

Re:publicity ploy to enhance Amazon brand name

[Gob Blesh It]

I wasn't going to respond, but then I became afraid you'd get modded up. Maybe you're right and the whole thing is a PR stunt for Amazon. Maybe not (unless you think only non-billionaires can have "boyhood dreams"). But in the end, who cares? I don't see how the founder's motivations detract from the (very real) accomplishments of Blue Origin's engineers and other employees. Similarly, is Richard Branson funding SpaceShipOne just for the PR, or because he wants to fly, or because he has a vision of affordable space travel within a generation? In a lot of ways, it's irrelevant. And, I might add, it's not like you or I are doing anything to further space colonization, pontificating here from our living rooms.

Your empty rage reminds me of this guy's, who makes a bizarre call for companies to stop soliciting donations for tsunami relief, because the "faceless corporation[s] are only doing it for the PR." Not particularly helpful.

Me, I don't care. I buy from Barnes & Noble.

The problem with human space travel

[eraserewind]

I hate to say this, but the problem with human space travel is that there is just nowhere to go. There are no alien civilizations (or even alien plant life) within reach. There are no habitable planets within reach (unless you count Mars or Venus, but as wastelands go, Antartica is paradise in comparison with either of those in terms of human habitation). It sucks, but it's true.

Re:The problem with human space travel

[bloodstains]

I would love to sit in a five star restaraunt in geostationary orbit with a view of the Earth out the window.

No juicy info here...

[Spy Handler]

I RTFA for a change, and basically it just says that Bezos applied for some permits to open a space launching facility. That and a brief description of Blue Origin and how it's trying to develop suborbital spacecraft in the near future. *yawn*

I don't know what Bezos is like as a person, but I guess he's not an attention hog (unlike some Apple/Pixar execs) and he doesn't mind quietly working in the background while his competitor (Burt) steals all the limelight and wins public adulation. One good thing for sure, if Bezos gets his bird airborne, the competition might force Virgin Galactic to lower their $190,000 ticket price :)

Re:why we need (human) space exploration/colonisat

[Anonymous Coward]

bla bla bla, the classic romantic view. Sorry man, but really think about it, why was America found...for money, why did marco polo go on his quest...for money, etc. To profit is what drives the human race. Humans dont make drugs to help people, they do it because it makes money...lots of it. Such ideas while nice, are blind. Mod me down flamebait or whatever, it must be said.

Why not space elevator

[Capt. Dick Jackman]

Building a stupid little ship to put a couple of rich people into suborbit for a few minutes gets us no where in the grand scheme of things. I'm rather dumbfounded as to why none of these guys are trying to bankroll a space elevator. That's when you can do some serious space stuff and become richer than Bill. I've read various places that it could be done in the very near future for as little as $10 billion. When I read that someone isn't dicking around with suborbital vehicles and is behind this, I'll get excited. Otherwise, all this has already been done for the past 60 years.

Why west Texas?

[rotenberry]

Why choose a site just west of three of the ten most populous cities in the United States?

From Wikipedia:
"Cape Canaveral was chosen for rocket launches to take advantage of the earth's rotation. At the equator, the centrifugal force of earth's rotation is the maximum. The direction of earth's rotation is such that to take advantage of the rotation, rockets should be launched eastward. It is also highly desirable to have the downrange area sparsely populated, ideally an ocean, in case of accidents. Thus rockets should be launched from a continent's east coast as close to the equator as possible. For the United States, Florida is the most southerly east coast location."

While it is true that this site is for suborbital flights, it will still be necessary to expend energy NOT to fly westward toward the population centers.

Re:why we need (human) space exploration/colonisat

[maxpublic]

We all heard the reasoning for abolishing space-exploration

What's worrying is that there are people out there who actually think they have the right to ban others from going into space. Don't want to go into space? Fine - don't go? But when it comes to others going into space, bugger off and mind your own business.

Max