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back to article Your Amazon order is confirmed: Eutelsat via Blue Origin. Estimated delivery date: 2022

Blue Origin, the orbital delivery service funded by Amazon supremo Jeff Bezos, has taken its first satellite launch booking. We're told the sat will be put into orbit in 2021 or 2022 – basically, once Bezos has finished building the rocket to do the job. If all goes to plan, Blue Origin will launch a communications satellite …

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  1. Richard 12 Silver badge

    One presumes this is an option, not a booking

    Given that Blue Origin have yet to stage a rocket at all, let alone put anything into orbit.

    SpaceX had a lot of trouble getting the staging sequence right, it seems likely that this is because it is hard.

    I wish Blue Origin all the best, but this announcement is several years too soon.

    6 0 Reply
    1. Pascal Monett Silver badge
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      Absolutely. Building rockets that work is just about the hardest engineering challenge there is. So I'm a bit dubious that this announcement will actually result in a successful launch in 2022.

      SpaceX was founded in 2002, and has only managed a successful launch since last year. That's 15 years of (intense) work.

      Bezos thinks he can do the same in less than 6 years ? Nope. Even if he poaches NASA scientists and SpaceX personnel, 2022 will not be a launch year for Blue Origin.

      On the other hand, it is interesting to note that there is now another billionaire intent on reaching orbit. I guess that means that space is getting less expensive, which should be a Good Thing (TM).

      0 4 Reply
      1. Graham Dawson Silver badge
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        What are you talking about? They made their first successful launch in 2010.

        1 0 Reply
        1. Pascal Monett Silver badge
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          @Graham Dawson

          Apparently I missed a page, but Wikipedia does not agree with you. It states that Blue Origin made its first test flight in 2015, not 2010.

          The article clearly indicates that "the first developmental test flight of the New Shepard occurred on April 29, 2015", and I should have checked that out before firing off my original comment.

          So I stand corrected, Bezos has launched a test vehicle, which means that he is a lot farther than I thought he was. I had never heard of Blue Origin before this article. Having brought the launch vehicle back right next to the launch pad obviously means things are under control and progressing well enough to make the Eutelsat statement viable.

          So I am now looking forward to seeing yet another launch vehicle in space in 2022.

          0 2 Reply
          1. Graham Dawson Silver badge
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            Re: @Graham Dawson

            SpaceX was founded in 2002, and has only managed a successful launch since last year. That's 15 years of (intense) work.

            0 0 Reply
      2. Voland's right hand Silver badge
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        Bezos thinks he can do the same in less than 6 years ?

        What are you talking about? Blue Origin was originally founded to go after the Ansari X prize, by 2022 it will be TWENTY TWO YEARS OLD. IT IS OLDER THAN SPACEX!!!

        It is just being done the Bezos way - methodically and making sure that every component can stand on its own and be a product. Its engines are already sold to ULA, other components are also likely to be available on a wholesale or "as a service" package.

        It is slower, it takes more time than building a vertical like SpaceX, but it gets you there too in the end. It is also pretty much guaranteed to return investment even if it does not put anything into orbit. The engine sales alone will take care of that.

        In any case, I would not be surprised if they put a satellite in orbit in 2022. On schedule. As intended.

        4 1 Reply
    2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
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      Re: One presumes this is an option, not a booking

      "I wish Blue Origin all the best, but this announcement is several years too soon."

      As per the comment at the end of the story, it's all about buying power. If the customer can select from multiple suppliers then the customer has more power of the price. The announcement applies a little more pressure to SpaceX and others.

      0 0 Reply
  2. Flocke Kroes Silver badge

    Cannot find it

    Amazon does sell rockets, just not really big ones. If you want to get into the launch business Register style, Amazon does sell a handy kit. The humour department clearly had the day off because I could not find a sticker on their transporter/erector.

    2 0 Reply
  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Point of Order !

    I would hereby like to propose an international treaty stating that any individual, company, government or other entity that puts a new object in orbit around earth has to remove two obsolete ones.

    Let's start cleaning up that scrapheap !

    1 1 Reply
  4. Mark Solaris

    Say barge one more time mofo, I dare you, I double dare you!!!

    If it's got engines, it's a ship. If it's towed behind a ship (or tug) it's a barge.

    1 1 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Say barge one more time mofo, I dare you, I double dare you!!!

      A tug's a boat, not a ship. And there's barges that are pushed too...bit like a rocket engine stage pushing a...well...rocket barge. Of sorts.

      0 0 Reply
    2. Gobhicks
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      Re: Say barge one more time mofo, I dare you, I double dare you!!!

      Barge (noun): a long flat-bottomed boat for carrying freight on (mainly) canals and rivers, either under its own power or towed by another

      3 0 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Say barge one more time mofo, I dare you, I double dare you!!!

        Woot! 09:24 GMT and a fight over the definition of a word breaks out on El Reg. Someone call Suzie Dent to officiate. See if she can bring Rachel too.

        4 0 Reply
    3. Voland's right hand Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Say barge one more time mofo, I dare you, I double dare you!!!

      River barges are PUSHED, not pulled.

      While the shipping on the Danube and other large European rivers is nowhere near its former glory, you can still see on occasional 3-4 barge long river train carrying bulk cargo like sand or chemicals going down-river.

      Like this one:

      https://previews.123rf.com/images/cristinistor/cristinistor1411/cristinistor141100290/33816773-Barges-along-the-Danube-River-Stock-Photo.jpg

      I am counting the "tug" pushing 8 ones at the same time in that photo.

      0 2 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Say barge one more time mofo, I dare you, I double dare you!!!

        Sorry to break it to you (I was born in town by the aforementioned river) I have seen barges on the Danube both pushed and pulled.

        Not that it is of great importance.

        1 0 Reply
  5. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Coat

    Proof positive that US Rocket companies lead the world

    In producing spiffy videos..

    Although I do like the ambition.

    Given the number of times it took for SX to get it right I suspect the barge landing will be the trickiest part to get right.

    The smart money says get the grid fin design started now.

    2 0 Reply
  6. TitterYeNot

    Please forgive to be incontinent for interior decoration

    "the Blue Origin motto Gradatim Ferociter (Step by step, ferociously)."

    Is it just me, or does that motto sound like badly translated Chinglish?

    I hope it isn't a portent of the quality of Bezos's rocketry, given the amount of cheap Chinese tat available from Amazon these days...

    0 3 Reply
  7. phuzz Silver badge
    Mushroom

    That's going to be a Bee Eff Arr.

    0 0 Reply
  8. Zmodem

    rockets are so old skool when BAE System have my EM pulse propulsion thrusters working

    https://youtu.be/NMMA5KgIvYE?t=2m19s

    0 1 Reply
  9. duhmb

    Of course he can do it, he'll simply steal some musketeers with options and skip all that tedious trial and error.

    0 0 Reply

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