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More Clues About Blue Origin's Space Plans

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the blue's-clues dept.

FleaPlus writes "Blue Origin, the secretive company started by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, has recently released a number of new details about their suborbital launch plans and their private desert launch facility. The vehicle will be fully reusable, and similar in many ways to the vertical-takeoff-and-landing DC-X. The details were part of a 229-page environmental impact statement the company filed to comply with federal regulations. The company plans to start launching test vehicles later this year, with commercial operations beginning in 2010."

4 of 74 comments (clear)

  1. Reusable! by mcai8rw2 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Here is a big cheer for the fact that the object is re-usable. This is fast becoming one of the more considered aspects of shuttle design, and given taht there is a "The Carbon Trust" campaign going on in the uk [and the world!] a reuable shuttle is a big bonus.

    --
    >>>Scanning for I.D.I.O.T.S. >>>
    >>>I.D.I.O.T.S. FOUND! >>>
    1. Re:Reusable! by CommunistHamster · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It's not just the reusability, it's how reuseable it is, in this case measured in turnaround time. The wikipedia article states that it has a turnaround time of 26 hours minimum, which is outstanding compared to the Shuttle.

  2. Re:Rotavators? by MichaelSmith · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Given the spread of suborbital spacecraft, isn't now a good time to take a fresh look at the rotavator idea?

    Without a really good heavy lift system the rotavator won't get started at all. The best prospect was the Shuttle ET based big dumb booster, but no more ET's are going to be built now.

    Perhaps somebody can come up with a plan to use all those shuttle main engines which will be left at the end of the Shuttle program.

    --
    http://michaelsmith.id.au
  3. Come on people - look at the trend... by Cicero382 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've been an avid follower of space exploration for... well, all of my life. Hell, my father even woke me up at 3 AM so I could watch Armstrong do his stuff (I was eight) - he didn't dare *not* let me watch - the whinging would've been awful.

    In those days, youngsters like me *knew* that we would have a base on the Moon in 10 years and another on Mars a few years after that. The excitement!

    Oh, dear...

    OK. I know now that it was all a "Get there before the Commies", but it *was* done. (BTW. To all you Yanks reading this - I think you guys made the greatest achievement of the human race, to date, happen. The reasons aren't important - you should be very proud).

    Now look at it. It's starting again, but this time on many fronts - this isn't the only initiative. I'm eight years old again. The only difference is that I'm too old to play a part.