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Bezos's Blue Origin Prepares Launch Facility

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the hey-jeff-can-i-get-a-lift dept.

mhteas writes "Jeff Bezos's very quiet and private spaceship company Blue Origin is preparing to set up a launch facility in west Texas on 165,000 acres Bezos bought. There's a little more information about Blue Origin's plans too."

5 of 127 comments (clear)

  1. Problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:Problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Two words: Asteroid belt.

      Three more words: Unlimited mineral resources.

    2. Re:Problem by MoonBuggy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If I can in any way at all afford it I'll be on a trip into space at some point in my life for no other reason than it's a dream of mine and always has been to do it. I think there are enough people like me to provide a fair amount of return on any development costs, and that's going up there essentially just for the experience of it. This should provide incentive to develop further and maybe go on to some useful mining operations and the like, as previous posters have said.

      The other nice thing about this 'private space race' is that it's stimulating competition between some of the world's best business and engineering minds. This is exactly how capitalism is supposed to work - competition for the ultimate share of the profits leads to better products and developments from everyone. Looking at the level of people involved I'm willing to be there's going to be some cool tech made in this race. There isn't a viable replacement for Concorde yet for a start...

  2. If only by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    If only our community supports bezos as much as they support (steve) jobs, we'd actually be getting somewhere.

  3. Three more words by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Really shitty analogy.

    We're talking about another PLANET'S worth of metals and ores. We haven't done much more than scratch the surface of our own...

    Asteroids don't decompose when you 'kill' them, either. They'll still be there even if you just take half of one.