Richard Branson

[smartcooky]

It is telling that of the three competitors under discussion, Branson, Musk and Bezos, only Branson is not developing capability to support ongoing progress like the other two. It is much more about thrill seeking. It kind of parallels the way the early Soviet efforts focused a bit too heavily on space stunts with the likes of Voskhod.

As far as Blue Origin goes, I am disappointed they have yet put a anything into orbit, despite having more than a two year head start over SpaceX. At least Virgin Orbit has managed this, albeit just a few cubesats launched from a missile dropped by a 747.

[Zakalwe]

How pissed would Tory Bruno be if BO put something into orbit whilst the engines that he's waiting for are over 4 years late?

[jfb]

IINM (not a safe bet), BO has delivered a set of engines to ULA, but they haven’t been fully tested.  However, it allows ULA to move forward with Vulcan assembly (they can do fit tests, hook up the plumbing, do some integration tests, etc.).  A second set of engines is almost ready and will go through the full round of testing before delivery, and I think those will be the first flight engines.

Or not.  Honestly, some of the reporting around this is a little confusing, and as always the jfb filter must be taken into account (turns signal into noise). 

[Zakalwe]

IINM (not a safe bet), BO has delivered a set of engines to ULA, but they haven’t been fully tested.  However, it allows ULA to move forward with Vulcan assembly (they can do fit tests, hook up the plumbing, do some integration tests, etc.).  A second set of engines is almost ready and will go through the full round of testing before delivery, and I think those will be the first flight engines.

Or not.  Honestly, some of the reporting around this is a little confusing, and as always the jfb filter must be taken into account (turns signal into noise).

"Pathfinder" engines were delivered in July 2020, but no flight ready engines have been delivered. https://spacenews.com/blue-origin-delivers-the-first-be-4-engine-to-united-launch-alliance/

In May this year Eric Berger reported that BO's "aspiration" was to deliver two engines by the end of this calendar year. https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/08/blue-origins-powerful-be-4-engine-is-more-than-four-years-late-heres-why/
"According to these sources, the flight engines to be delivered to ULA, no. 1 and no. 2, are not yet fully assembled. But most of the components are built. The good news is that Blue Origin believes it has retired all of the significant technical risks. Engineers have already tested the BE-4 engine in a configuration close to that of the flight engines, and it has performed well during hot firings that approximate the duty cycle of a Vulcan first stage launch.
Blue Origin's current plan involves testing two more development engines at its facility near Van Horn, Texas, this fall. These are close to, but not the, final version of the BE-4 engine.
After these tests, a fully assembled flight engine no. 1 will be shipped to Texas to undergo a fairly brief round of tests, known as acceptance testing. If this engine passes, as expected, it will be shipped to ULA. Then a virtually identical BE-4 engine will be sent from Kent to Texas. This "qual" engine will undergo a much more rigorous series of tests, known as qualification testing. The idea is to push the engine through its paces to find any flaws. Then a similar process will follow with flight engine no. 2, followed by a second "qual" engine."


In July, Eric wrote that BO had not yet delivered any engines https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/07/increasingly-the-ula-blue-origin-marriage-is-an-unhappy-one/
In August he again wrote that the preliminary engines are still at BO. https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/08/rocket-report-virgin-galactic-ups-ticket-prices-starship-surge-in-texas/

[jfb]

jfb filter strikes again.  I had read those stories, but it all went sideways in my head. 

I wonder how many times a day Tory just locks the door and just screams unintelligibly. 

[Zakalwe]

Looks like the FAA have cleared VG to fly again.
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210929005972/en/Virgin-Galactic-Cleared-to-Fly-Following-Conclusion-of-FAA-Inquiry


My fear is that they'll be back on the FAA's radar all too soon though.

[Glom]

Shatner is going to space.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-58792761

[molesworth]

Shatner is going back to space.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-58792761

FTFY 

[Peter B]

Shatner is going to space.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-58792761

I note that story links to this one:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58760764

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said it will review safety concerns raised by whistleblowers at Blue Origin, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' space company.

The announcement comes after 21 current and former employees claimed the company had ignored safety concerns to gain an advantage in the space race.

Staff also complained of a culture of sexism within the company.

[Glom]

Relax. He survived.

[JayUtah]

Relax. He survived.

Yeah, but I would have been a lot happier about it if the ground crew had put on fake goatees (a la "Mirror, Mirror") for when he got back.  Or Planet of the Apes masks.  You can see where I'm going with this, I don't need to fill in the details.

[molesworth]

Relax. He survived.

Yeah, but I would have been a lot happier about it if the ground crew had put on fake goatees (a la "Mirror, Mirror") for when he got back.  Or Planet of the Apes masks.  You can see where I'm going with this, I don't need to fill in the details.

There were a lot of fun images / memes posted before launch, e.g.

[jfb]

Dude's 90 and he looks like someone in their late '60s.  He's going to live to be like 110 years old or something. 

I saw the short video BO released - after a couple of genuine "wow"s, he stayed glued to the window while everyone else was bouncing around. 

No, it's not orbit, but it's not nothing, either. 

[Zakalwe]

Dude's 90 and he looks like someone in their late '60s.  He's going to live to be like 110 years old or something. 

I saw the short video BO released - after a couple of genuine "wow"s, he stayed glued to the window while everyone else was bouncing around. 

No, it's not orbit, but it's not nothing, either.

The conversation that he had with Bezos afterwards was very touching. You could see that he was moved to tears by the experience.