When it comes to rockets, people will immediately talk about size. Jeff Bezos (CEO of Amazon) and Elon Musk (CEO of SpaceX) understand this, because both billionaires own their own space companies.
Currently, Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX is using the Falcon 9 rocket to transport a large amount of cargo into orbit for NASA and other companies around the world. Jeff Bezos’ company Blue Origin is testing a New Shepard rocket designed to fly humans to the edge of space in orbital flights.
Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.
These two billionaires have a friendly competitive relationship in the aerospace field, often “poking” each other’s Twitter about their achievements. So have you ever wondered whose rocket is bigger in the end?
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is nearly 52 meters taller than Blue Origin’s New Shepard. Falcon 9 has a height of 70 meters, while New Shepard is only about 18.3 meters tall.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is nearly 52 meters taller than Blue Origin’s New Shepard.
But both of these rockets are “dwarves” when compared to NASA’s rockets.
NASA’s Saturn V rocket has taken humans to the moon to more than 110 meters high, which is nearly 30.5 meters higher than Falcon 9. SpaceX’s next big rocket, Falcon Heavy , is scheduled to fly for the first time in January 2018, just as tall as the Falcon 9.
However, Blue Origin is planning to build the New Glenn three-stage rocket , which when it does appear will be a formidable competitor to the Saturn V, reaching nearly 95.5 meters.
That said, in fact, not many people compare the size of the rocket. Bezos and Musk’s rockets are small, but each has their place and function in the space industry.
Falcon 9 and New Shepard are two very different rockets.
Falcon 9 and New Shepard are two very different rockets. The New Shepard is designed to fly customers about 100km and then drop them to Earth in a capsule with a parachute.
Falcon 9 has another mission: to carry cargo into orbit, and one day to carry humans to the International Space Station (ISS) if all goes according to plan.
Both the Falcon 9 and the New Shepard are designed to be reused , capable of returning to Earth after carrying the cargo into orbit.
As a rule, larger rockets like the Falcon 9 should be able to take you farther into space, get you into orbit, and carry whatever you want with ease. Smaller rockets, like the New Shepard, would be better suited to deliver smaller cargoes to orbit or the edge of space.
Obviously, you don’t want to waste fuel using a very large rocket just to transport a small amount of cargo that could be carried by a smaller rocket?
For that reason, comparing rocket sizes is just a way of “entertaining” only, because size is not important after all.