Before we spotted 'Oumuamua in 2017, apparently we had also seen another weird thing in 2014. Now we confirm that was another extrasolar weird thing passing through our system.
I think that brings it up to three known extrasolar objects coming through our turf. Maybe they arenât that uncommon (or at least one every few years) and now weâll get better at spotting them.
Amazon bails out Blue Origin, surprise surprise.
Not just Blue Origin, they bought basically all the non SpaceX launch capacity available for the next five years. I think this will backfire spectacularly as it just drives everyone else who needs launch capacity into deeper relationships with SpaceX.
But if itâs good for the SpaceX competitors to have some guaranteed business for a few years that seems like a win all around. If they can prove themselves to be reliable and get to be cost competitive with SpaceX no reason other customers wouldnât want to book with them in the future. Would love a vibrant launch market.
I think it would have been a good thing if Amazon had spread this around equally to all launch providers. Doing it the way they did is much less likely to have good outcomes. It will bail out Blue Origin and give them some guaranteed revenue so they can actually develop the capabilities that they are being paid for, but it also distorts the market in weird ways. Anyone who wants a launch in the next five years and doesnât have a contract basically HAS to go to SpaceX now.
I know various European partners already announced moving forward with additional upgrades to the Ariane 6 rocket and its production lines due to this deal. However, itâs sounding like this will just be result in higher lift capacity for the rocket, which while useful is too conservative to be truly competitive long-term. Who knows though, there are a variety of European proposals for future reusability which could catch on given more guaranteed business for their rocket systems.
Also, ULA and their suppliers are ramping up production now in a way which will probably bring down their prices for other customers a little. However, Iâm skeptical that ULAâs owners will allow them to do anything interesting with the extra revenue. It would be nice if they were free to pursue more ambitious R&D.
Up and coming small rocket companies did lose out on this contract, but until the big companies can complete this production ramp up, anyone else trying to get launch capacity and doesnât want to go with SpaceX will be more pushed in the small companiesâ direction.
jpinard
5041
I would LOVE to know whoâs funding this group. âFreedomâ on the base of the rocket feels like a grifter phrase at this point.
RichVR
5042
Itâs a joke. It has to be. Build a rocket and a lander and get to Mars in what, two years? Riiiiiiight.
Menzo
5043
Thatâs just what old fogeys say. As the company notes, Columbus sailing to America âwasnât difficult,â so neither should sailing to Mars be.
Iâm sure NASA and SpaceX are just being the boomers they are. Canât wait to see whatâs next from Pythom!
RichVR
5044
Admitting that they spelled Python wrong?
Rocket explodes 15 seconds after launch because they used too many spaces on line 1015?
Houngan
5046
Idiot turtles all the way down. Let them burn. I wish there was a vehicle for shorting this sort of thing.
I admire their spirit, enthusiasm, and sense of adventure, and I wish them well. If any of them have children, I do hope they have life insurance, and they have carefully read all of the exclusion clauses.
I agree this is good to create a competitive launch market. I hope Jeff is funding this with his own money, Iâm not sure Amazon shareholders should be doing it.
I think itâs pretty clear that Amazon is funding this with Amazon cash. What I donât understand is why Amazon is trying to get into the internet business at all. I also donât understand why they think they can catch Starlink considering the massive head start and superior inherent launch capability that Starlink has being part of SpaceX. Come to think about it, I donât even understand why they think this is going to be a super profitable venture. Maybe they think that satellite internet will be so wildly good it will eventually supplant fiber-optic ground-based internet services for connecting homes?
Menzo
5050
That can be the only future for all of these services. Thereâs not enough money in serving far-flung areas. They want to compete for home internet around the world, likely including offering other IP-based services like TV/on-demand/phone/etc.
I would also suggest that being first into the market does not always make you the long-term victor. Amazon doesnât need to beat SpaceX, they need to offer a more-compelling service.
More people and businesses with high speed internet, the more people that can utilize AWS for their work (Iâm assuming thatâs the theory at least). Especially farmers and other rural systems.
I laughed. Though I would have said âthey mixed tabs with spacesâ.
Romalar
5053
Itâs also possible they think that a lower-latency intercontinental connection between AWS data centers will be profitable. Thereâs been a lot of speculation about Starlink using laser interconnects between satellites to get around fiber cable slowdowns at such distances, maybe this is what Amazon is looking at as well.
Beyond that, thereâs also been some interest (in general, donât know for Amazon) in connecting a traditional fiber-connected data center with remote miniature data centers at field locations off the grid. This one sounds like it has a high margins from what Iâve heard, but I donât understand if itâs a large enough market to make it profitable on the scale they need.
