Blue Origin!

Check out their new site including test videos!

http://public.blueorigin.com/index.html

That thing is massive.

that is much bigger than i expected!
The first video is amazing!!!!!!!!!!
well done chaps!
great link also!
Rob

It's indeed amazing

If they decide to compete at the next X PRIZE Lunar Lander Challenge, then the launch pads in Las Cruces will definitely need to be enlarged.

I'm sorry to be so negative again, but comparing Blue Origin with other x-prize teams is not really what they want if they want to be taken seriously. Their concept is nothing new and it begs the question why Nasa didn't fund it further if it could be succesfull.

For me, Blue Origin is just another (allthough more funded off course) x-prize team with a lot of ambition. As long as they don't compare themselves with spaceX or even Branson/Rutan, it's ok. At least, i thought they wanted to compete with Branson/Rutan, but now it sems they just getting started. So it will take at least 2 years to get a real flight.

Like many here, I was surprised to see them do this at this stage. I cannot believe this was their first flight though. They must have done (tethered) flights before. The achievement is not so much the flight itself, as well as the fact that they have a complete design and development team in place that produces complete flying systems. To me, from this point onwards they are a very credible contender in the race to grab a piece of the still hypothetical space tourism market.
Bezos planned this to be a sustainable effort. If he can keep it funded then I have no doubt that they can expand the envelop and produce >100km suborbital passengers flying spaceships, in the same class as SS2.
Well done!

They were doing the Rutan thing by keeping absolutely all information out of the public until they were ready. And my dark horse turn out right!

Given the size of the vehicle and the amount of fuel it could carry....

It also begs the question what they would do next year at the X-Prize Cup.

edit:
AA have posted their latest update, along with John's comment on the BO vehicle. Interesting thoughts.

http://www.armadilloaerospace.com/n.x/A ... ews_id=340

Unless the X Prize Cup changes its rules this year, or Blue Origin changes its propellant, it wouldn't be allowed to compete - hydrogen peroxide conentrations greater than 70% are not allowed.

Did anyone else notice how the thing seems to practically jump in the air after a very slow takeoff? That speaks of high excess thrust with still rather full tanks. That, and they twice change thrust very rapidly: When they reach and maintain ceiling, and during descent when they break. Looks like a well-mastered control loop (or just a little foolhardiness on the side of the control engineer )

Unfortunately, the image quality in the "gear" video is so poor one can't really see much of the thruster, other than it appears to start with a lot of steam in the exhaust, clearing up after a short time.

I'm wondering what some of the friends from over at Armadillo think about this.

Anyway, cheers from Old Europe for another interesting vehicle!

See the latest Armadillo update and find out!: http://www.armadilloaerospace.com/n.x/A ... ews_id=340

Yeah, thanks for the pointer. Seems that until BO come up with at least some technical info about their engines or vehicle, we'll all be limited to guesswork.

BTW (slightly OT), good luck with your injectors.

I'm glad to see it being done in such large size.

That thing could very well be later adapted as a straight up & down VTVL first stage.

Look at their facilities!!