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Re:SpaceX returns to flight with Falcon 9 rocket launch by cududa on Saturday January 14, 2017 @03:51PM (#13400483)
Two issues I remember hearing - there's a much larger launch window for landing on the ocean barge and something regarding approval/ regulations being more stringent for a land launch. Blue Origin's test flight didn't go too high so it didn't face the same issues.

I may be completely wrong here but I'm fairly certain that's what I remember reading.

Re:SpaceX returns to flight with Falcon 9 rocket launch by spacetourist on Saturday January 14, 2017 @03:55PM (#13400502)
Yeah you're wrong, it's to do with the speed they are travelling to get the launch trajectory, they lack the fuel required to make it back to land
Re:SpaceX returns to flight with Falcon 9 rocket launch by JshWright on Saturday January 14, 2017 @04:08PM (#13400564)
It has nothing to do with the height. Both rockets go 'up' a similar amount. The difference is how far sideways Falcon 9 has to go (since it is launching a payload to orbit).

https://what-if.xkcd.com/58/

Re:SpaceX returns to flight with Falcon 9 rocket launch by pricechild on Saturday January 14, 2017 @07:21PM (#13401491)
Have Blue Origin gone 'up' further than ~100km ?
Re:SpaceX returns to flight with Falcon 9 rocket launch by JshWright on Saturday January 14, 2017 @10:52PM (#13402199)
They're in that ballpark. I know the capsule exceeded 100km. I don't know if the first stage technically broke that or not, but it was closer if it didn't.
Re:SpaceX returns to flight with Falcon 9 rocket launch by pricechild on Wednesday January 18, 2017 @12:35PM (#13428290)
I think SpaceX are in a much higher ballpark?
Re:SpaceX returns to flight with Falcon 9 rocket launch by JshWright on Wednesday January 18, 2017 @03:00PM (#13429752)
Not really... A few dozen km altitude difference doesn't mean a whole lot. The _much_ more significant difference is that Falcon 9 is traveling sideways at several times the speed of sound. New Shepherd is "just" going sight up and coming back down.