c/world · by FistingEnthusiast@lemmy.world · 86d

Blue Origin rocket, owned by Jeff Bezos, explodes during test in Florida | Blue Origin

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/may/29/blue-origin-rocket-explodes

Such a shame he wasn't on board at the time

278 points · 51 comments · view on lemmy.world

51 Comments

nightwatch_admin@lemmy.world · 75 pts · 86d

Was he on board? No? Oh.

BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today · 39 pts · 85d (3 replies)

I'm in Central Florida, and last night's news had a guy on who is deeply plugged in, and he was saying that it is "hard to overestimate" the damage this does to the timetable, which included a big combination of forces between Blue Horizon, Space X, and NASA. This was BH's giant rocket, the biggest in history, and the entire plan revolved around this rocket, and it just had as catastrophic a failure as is possible. It will be months before it's ready again, maybe longer.

I grew up watching rocket launches since the 60s, and it was always many months between launches, with only one or two a year. They've gotten used to firing off multiple rockets a week, and forgot how volatile they are. The current mission was already an ambitious launch schedule, with every single launch coming off perfectly, which is never a guarantee. Now it's back to the drawing board, and since they had such a tight unforgiving schedule, this pushes back every other deadline, acrossultiple companies, for years into the future.

The expert also mentioned that the Chinese, who are scheduled to land on the Lunar South Pole before we do, has a simple, elegant plan to get to the moon, while we have a very complicated plan, with multiple companies, and lots of moving parts.

We're losing the 21st Century Space Race to China. We're losing everything to China.

towerful@programming.dev · 8 pts · 85d (1 reply)

Never mind the damage it did to the launch pad.
And there is concern about possible damage to the other rocket in the FAB

kill_dash_nine@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 85d

That launch pad damage is going to be a massive setback for them. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is down for a year plus. That was their only New Glenn launchpad so it’s not like they have other options. So we are really down to a SpaceX Starship for Artemis 3 if they can get remotely close to being ready at some point. Yesterday I would have told you that Blue Origin was our only hope at staying close to the new timelines. At this point, I will be shocked if we land on the moon before 2032 at the absolute earliest.

8oow3291d@feddit.dk · 4 pts · 85d

This was BH’s giant rocket, the biggest in history

New Glenn is large-ish, but it is not the biggest rocket in history. Starship is much bigger, for example.

Astrealix@lemmy.world · 25 pts · 86d (18 replies)

Hopefully it's not a design issue. Somebody needs to compete with SpaceX so Elon Musk doesn't have an iron grip on space. Bezos sucks but at least they'd be forced to keep other in check if New Glenn works.

SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca · 17 pts · 85d (8 replies)

Here's an idea: instead of private corporations sucking $20B a year on bad engineering, why not directly use that money for a not for profit federal agency?

We could call it the National Aeronautic Space Administration for Launches. Or, NASAL.

8oow3291d@feddit.dk · 4 pts · 85d (2 replies)

NASA just made a rocket - the Space Launch System. It was ridiculously more expensive than SpaceX's rocket. And the Space Shuttle before that was also very expensive and suboptimal.

I am not a private sector fundamentalist (fuck privatized healthcare), but rocket launches is one area where the private sector has proven better than the public sector.

decipher_jeanne@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 6 pts · 85d (1 reply)

The thing is. SLS is ludicrously more expensive then Space X rocket because congress basically strong armed NASA into re-using shuttle hardware to keep jobs. And SLS can put about 100t, twice as much payload to orbit compared to Falcon Heavy.

Shuttle was supposed to be a lot more reusable, with a reusable 1st stage, as well as the shuttle we know. But, post Apolo budget cut (and quite frankly technological limitations of 1970s), killed the design. NASA had to compromise further to keep the program going, by offering to allow the air force to use a shuttle for satellite capture (which it never did). And skipping technical details, it made the shuttle even less reusable, and also gave it it's iconic look with the wing in the rears.

I forgot my point so take the info dump for free

ieGod@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 85d

If I may extract one point: it got expensive because of politics, and that's mostly why politics should stay out of these kinds of developments. That should be true of either publicly or privately funded ventures.

SirEDCaLot@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 85d

My sweet summer child, where do you think NASA actually gets its rockets from? You think they build them themselves? You think there were federal employees bending metal and turning wrenches at the space shuttle factory?

The difference is design and oversight. With a NASA vehicle, the government is in charge of the design process and construction, although these tasks are mostly done by outside companies on government contracts. With a company like SpaceX or Blue Origin, the design and testing and operation is done by the company who then sells launch contracts to NASA.

If you think the government can do better, I encourage you to take a look at SLS.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/12/six-years-after-orions-first-spaceflight-america-still-waits-for-an-encore/ This is a few years old but it's very relevant. As of 2020, NASA had spent more on the Orion vehicle and one flight than SpaceX had spent cumulatively on all space activities combined (including falcon, dragon, Merlin, starlink, and the beginnings of starship)

Astrealix@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 85d

believe me, I am all for public space. The problem is Congress fucking sucks. And also NASA can't afford as much as said private corporations

oldwoodenship@lemmus.org · 2 pts · 85d

But how are we gonna make any money on that? What about all the red tape??

hashtag think of the billionaires

boonhet@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 83d

I like Administration for National Aeronautics Launches myself if we’re doing a naming competition.

Grabs more attention

BastingChemina@slrpnk.net · 1 pts · 85d

We have that already: NASA's Space Launch System.

It's ... debatable whether it gives better results than commercial contracts.

gandalf_der_12te@feddit.org · 10 pts · 85d (4 replies)

the chinese competition is the best thing that happened to american spaceflight in the last few years. we need a kick in the butt, and we're getting one

Astrealix@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 85d (3 replies)

Sadly the Chinese private space industry still is miles off SpaceX and their public space programme is while certainly competent AFAIK in many moral ways not much different from SpaceX even ignoring the CCP's issues.

Like I know Long March 5B's issue was solved but the fact that they acted like it didn't need solving is damning

Astrealix@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 85d

That being said, the accomplishments by CNSA are great. Wolf Amendment needs to be removed yesterday. And Tiangong is going to be a staple for years to come.

I just hope that my colonisers aren't the next country to make it onto the lunar surface cuz fuck the XiCP

SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca · -2 pts · 85d (1 reply)

Honda is launching and returning just fine.

Astrealix@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 85d

Let me ask you one simple question: what country is Honda from

pennomi@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 86d

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Mr_Self_Destruct@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 85d (2 replies)

Rocket Lab is doing well. Should really take off when they get Neutron off the launch pad

Astrealix@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 85d (1 reply)

I hope so! But also it's going to need testing and that might take ages. Also New Glenn is competing with Starship / Falcon Heavy iirc so different class

NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 85d

New Glenn wont really be competing with starship if they truly make it rapidly and fully reusable. Its gonna be a massive shift in access to space.

Until thats a proven capability though, then ya theyll be competing.

If starship works, New Glenn will likely only get launches as it'll be imperative to still fund other space programs so there are backups and so they can improve and catch up.

Edit: and any non US country wanting to avoid a US launch partner will be avoiding both of them, so they wont compete that way either.

ryokimball@infosec.pub · 22 pts · 86d (10 replies)

...I wonder how much "corporate sabotage" goes into this stuff now. Like stuxnet or fast16.

MadMadBunny@lemmy.ca · 32 pts · 86d (6 replies)

Huh, what? Sabotage? Nono, spicy hay!

daannii@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 86d (1 reply)

Good sabotage looks like an accident.

I mean. It's high level engineers working on these things. They would know how to make it look like an accident.

ms_lane@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 86d

ULA Snipers!?

venusaur@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 86d (2 replies)

AI rabbit or filter?

Zedstrian@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 85d (1 reply)

It's kind of depressing that we've gotten to the point where that question needs to be asked...

venusaur@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 85d

We were fucked when we got social media filters that altered your appearance, and not just a cat face, but the ones that make you look like yourself but entirely different.

gandalf_der_12te@feddit.org · 2 pts · 85d

username checks out

brem@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 86d (2 replies)

I was thinking that myself.

It really seems like something maybe another billionaire would do to stay ahead. It's just a game to them. These are just pieces on a board.

It'd be easy to pay engineers to pretend to be frustrated, leave, and get hired into critical positions at competing companies. All they have to do after that is be completely incompetent at engineering while making sure nobody picks up that one bolt was a micrometer too big.

BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 85d (1 reply)

Frankly, it would be more likely to be the Chinese, who have their own manned moon landing planned. We're in a new space race, and most people don't realize it. With this explosion, were in distant second place.

brem@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 85d

I'm starting a group to beat everyone to the moon. No base. We're just gonna go and take giant shits on all of the viable landing locations.

alexquiniou@lemmy.zip · 13 pts · 85d

What ?! Besos was not inside ? What a shame.

MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip · 9 pts · 85d (1 reply)

Nice firework! Bit expensive tho.

BarneyPiccolo@lemmings.world · 2 pts · 85d

He can afford it.

magnue@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 85d

If only Nolan had used this for Oppenheimer.

DarkFuture@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 85d

Bummer. He might have to use 0.00001% of his wealth to build another one.