/sci/ - Science & Math

>>12150972
Amazon likes to keep everything super close to the vest until a product is fully complete and available for customers. I don't have any visibility into Blue Origin, but I can extrapolate from management style. I suspect New Armstrong is eventually going to be part of a larger system, and was only released as a separate product because it was a way to combine proof of progress with early customer feedback. The first public AWS service was SQS - useless on its own, invaluable for larger architecture systems in the cloud. I suspect a similar effect is at play. The unveiling of New Glenn will be when it's complete and ready to reach orbit.

As for why BO is mimicking oldspace, it's because Jeff is nouveau riche trying to buy his way into American aristocracy - the DC swamp. He virtue signals the right way, bought the Washington Post, and aggressively courts government contracts against older players. Amazon has a retired general on the board of directors, and hired another one to help run our space sector. Jeff doesn't want to upset the cultural apple cart, and BO's biggest customer so far is ULA for all those BE-4s. He can't exactly go around humiliating them like Elon does. Furthermore, SpaceX is very clearly Elon's primary focus. For Jeff, BO is a distant second after Amazon, especially this year. If for whatever reason Jeff leaves Amazon but not BO, that maniacal focus would transfer.