Blue Origin lands New Glenn rocket booster on second try

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Overall reaction

  • Many commenters are impressed: second launch, first successful New Glenn barge landing, and an operational Mars mission payload is seen as a major milestone.
  • Some dislike the PR-heavy webcast style, preferring more technically focused commentary and clearer engineering audio.

Blue Origin vs. SpaceX engineering approaches

  • Several compare Blue’s “get it right before flight” approach to SpaceX’s highly iterative, high‑cadence testing.
  • One framing: Blue is “designing a rocket,” while SpaceX is “designing a rocket factory” optimized for rapid, cheap, repeatable builds.
  • Debate on which is better: iterative is faster but capital‑intensive and hard on teams; methodical may over‑engineer and take longer but fits constrained funding and conservative customers.
  • Some note knowledge transfer from ex‑SpaceX staff to Blue.

Capabilities and market positioning

  • New Glenn is compared mainly to Falcon Heavy (capacity & volume), not Starship:
    • Rough figures cited: New Glenn ~45t to LEO, F9 ~23t, FH up to ~64t expendable.
    • New Glenn’s larger fairing volume is highlighted as a genuinely new capability.
  • Multiple comments expect pressure on ULA, which depends on Blue’s BE‑4 engines and may struggle to compete if New Glenn becomes reliable and cheap.
  • Discussion on Starship: original payload claims vs. heavier-than-planned structure/heat shield, door design, and whether full reusability and Mars missions are realistic.

Landing technology details

  • Strong interest in the leg “pyrotechnics”: likely explosive anchors/“harpoons” welding feet to the deck, with linked patents.
  • Seen as a simpler securing mechanism than SpaceX’s OctaGrabber, though requires post‑landing cutting/grinding.

Competition, policy, and geopolitics

  • General approval that SpaceX now has a serious US competitor; concern about over‑reliance on a single company/CEO.
  • Chinese reusable methalox rockets (e.g., Zhuque‑3, LandSpace) are discussed; significant state funding is assumed, with questions about financing Starship‑class vehicles.
  • Several lament Europe’s lag in reusable launchers and LEO constellations, debating whether the EU should even try to compete versus buying launches and focusing elsewhere (e.g., nuclear, payloads).

Management & culture at Blue Origin

  • Thread attributes recent acceleration partly to leadership change and cultural reforms; prior leadership is described as slow and bureaucratic.
  • Some caution against crediting one executive for a program that predates them by many years.

Video/communications aspects

  • Viewers note glitchy landing footage and “buffering” overlays; comparisons made to SpaceX’s earlier drone‑ship videos before Starlink improved live downlink.
  • Suggestions to use more fault‑tolerant real‑time streaming rather than consumer-style buffering.