Do we know if they were testing anything specific with this launch? I like Blue Origin, but it just seems like they're still doing basically the same tests they were doing 5 years ago.

Just more "experiments" from what I've read. Which is a bit odd anyway, since this was another suborbital flight.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/13/...atch-live-time

One of these days I'll have to look up what kind of experiments they're flying. It's hard to picture what you could gather from 30 seconds (or whatever) of microgravity.

I'm a little surprised they didn't have any footage from cameras mounted on the booster or capsule.

Blue Origin breaks the record for rocket recycling by launching and landing its reusable New Shepard craft for the SEVENTH time

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...w-Shepard.html

That's about it though. The rest of the coverage was far below the quality we see for a SpaceX launch.

ROFL

Headlines like that are why a lot of people rail on BO. I get it but...c'mon.

Agreed. Fairing separation and satellite deployment beat drone footage of a suborbital rocket every time.

This.


Let me know when BO launches an orbital rocker. :/


I expect Starship to reach orbit before New Glenn.

Something just seems sketchy about Blue Horizon's. I suspect it's solely for Bezos.

This.

Probably years away from this being a thing, but cool that NASA sees the promise in the concept.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">NASA has selected Starship for a propellant transfer demonstration! Combining Starship’s rapid reusability with orbital refilling is critical to economically transporting large numbers of crew and cargo to the Moon and Mars <a href="https://t.co/a3EZIUoXR7">https://t.co/a3EZIUoXR7</a> <a href="https://t.co/0YRkVHBrDI">https://t.co/0YRkVHBrDI</a></p>&mdash; SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1316417597257129985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I would guess it is one of the first orbital Starship missions launched. Starship doesn't go to the Moon or Mars without this tech.