Unusual Advantage Of Blue Origin Over SpaceX According To Jeff Bezos

Billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos both want to rule private space travel with their recyclable rockets. With SpaceX, it looks like Musk all but won the race already. However, Bezos claims his Blue Origin rockets hold a strange advantage over SpaceX rockets.

While Space X boasts super cool drone ship landing pads, Blue Origin actually has a seafaring ship that catches returning boosters without the need to stop, according to a CNET report.

Bezos believes staying in motion gives his New Glenn rockets a significant advantage over the SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets. The reason is that the mobility allows the Blue Origin rockets to launch from, as well as land, in high sea states, which of course, can help provide a better schedule for Blue Origin’s customers.

Last month, SpaceX abandoned plans to retrieve a rocket in treacherous seas, but considering the fact that New Glenn rockets won’t be in service until 2020, SpaceX may perfect its ocean landings by then erasing any competitive advantage Bezos might see at this time.

Amazon customers jokingly asked (or perhaps not so jokingly) Bezos on Twitter earlier this week when the Amazon magnate tweeted about New Shepard’s 8th test flight if long-time Amazon customer might receive discounted flights once New Glenn goes into service.

Launch preparations are underway for New Shepard’s 8th test flight, as we continue our progress toward human spaceflight. Currently targeting Sunday 4/29 with launch window opening up at 830am CDT. Livestream info to come. @BlueOrigin #GradatimFerociter pic.twitter.com/zAYpAGWB8C

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) April 27, 2018

While Bezos didn’t officially reply, there’s always a chance he’ll create some sort of space flight membership plan just like he did on two-day free shipping. Of course, chances are, it will cost a lot more than Amazon Prime’s new annual price of $119. Don’t look for it to be included as a perk along with Prime Video, Twitch Prime, among other perks of the annual (or monthly) membership.

During New Shepard’s 8th test flight, Blue Origin tested a secret space communicator built by Solstar Space Co. reported CBC News. The device allows passengers on New Shepard (who will pay $200,000 for an 11-minute flight into space later this year), to take and send selfies back to Earth. Not only that, but they can also Facetime, so the Wi-Fi seems decent because no doubt 11 minutes without Wi-Fi could prove disastrous for some people.

Overall, the fact that SpaceX and Blue Origin compete with each other could prove beneficial for customers who plan to partake in commercial space flight sometime in the very near future.