>If that's your takeaway then I think there isn't much point starting a debate with you but on the off chance that that is what you are looking for:

You may not know this, but the user you're responding to has historically been one of the more prominent SpaceX fanboys on the internet. (Formerly most active mod of /r/SpaceX)

(edit: okay, maybe you do know this. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9449298)

>(1) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=823615 and many others besides, some of them well before SpaceX was even officially on the books.

Nobody's questioning whether you supported SpaceX then. But don't let your past cheerleading of the now-frontrunner preclude you from supporting the promising newcomers now. Space is big enough for many players.

>(2) Jeff Bezos is not a 'little player', he goes out of his way to invite comparison (in a positive sense) between SpaceX and Blue Origin.

Good. If SpaceX is his role model, he's sure to set his sights high.

>(3) I'm super happy that SpaceX exists and I sincerely hope that Blue Origin will shape up and starts to put stuff in orbit rather than to play the 'space tourism' angle. It seems rather frivolous to start off with manned space flight when you normally speaking cut your teeth - and derisk your design - using many useful unmanned launches until you get it all to work reliably and safely. Going 'up and down' does not seem all that impressive, even though of course it is plenty complicated but it is all relative to what others are doing.

Blue Origin just completed an absolutely massive rocket factory in KSC's Exploration Park. Their (ambitious, oxygen-rich staged combustion methalox) orbital-class rocket engine will complete testing this year, bound for use both on their own SHLV-class orbital New Glenn as well as ULA's Vulcan in 2020. Meanwhile, with New Shepard they've perfected their hydrogen BE-3 (to be modified for vacuum work as the BE-3U) and will soon gain experience with flying crew. That's more meaningful than you let on — crew capsule development is a very long process. Dragon started development in 2004, 15 years before it will fly crew. New Glenn will start with dozens of unmanned payloads — crewed flights aren't expected until 7-8 years down the line. (And they'll presumably still need to develop their own orbital capsule.)

https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/972507214845014016

>(4) I can't stand hype. And to me Blue Origin is hyping for all it is worth.

SpaceX is built on hype. Hype precedes accomplishment, by nature.

>For now they're Armadillo Space on steroids time will tell how they will fare. Until then these test flights test stuff that matters but not nearly at the level that Blue Origin makes it out to be.

You say that as if it's a bad thing. Armadillo is one of the most profoundly impactful companies in all of spaceflight history — there's a direct line from Carmack's VTVL work to SpaceX's booster landings. Nobody disputes that Blue Origin is many years behind SpaceX, and their "top-down" approach can be criticized and contrasted with SpaceX's "bottom-up" approach, but their accomplishments so far should not be understated — they are at least as impressive as SpaceX's Grasshopper and F9R work. And they're low single-digit years away from leapfrogging every competitor besides SpaceX into low-cost partially-reusable heavy-lift flight.