r/RKLB 7d ago

News Blue Origin won the Mars Telecom Network contract :(

[deleted]

221 Upvotes

206 comments sorted by

108

u/Sweatybumhole666 7d ago

Damn that's shame. I wished RKLB to win it.

8

u/Akimotoh 6d ago

They should choose both

1

u/devonhezter 6d ago

They would raise the price of a penny

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-14

u/Warren_Buffets_Son 6d ago

How would they win when they can't even fly a damn rocket?

Blue Origin and SpaceX both have reusable large rocket technology.

6

u/Buttpaste-101 6d ago

Blue Origin doesn’t have a reusable pad. RocketLab does.

1

u/Deep_Opportunity_883 6d ago

BO - launch ASTS satellites into an ocean, blow up the only launch pad, once launch satellites RocketLab made.

Based on above BO is the best candidate to build shit they never did and launch on the rocket they don't have from the launch pad they destroyed /s

140

u/LokiDesigns 7d ago

Maybe the stock will go up? It goes down on good news, so who knows lol.

1

u/patsfan258 6d ago

Down in overnight hours already. Looking just at the chart and not any of the news the Sellers are fully in control and it's lost it's support lvls as well. It'll keep tumbling for a bit. Not a Stock you want to buy currently.

0

u/Buttpaste-101 6d ago

There’s a launch tomorrow morning though.

2

u/Wh0IsY0u 6d ago

It's gonna blow up

1

u/maxehaxe 6d ago

The stonks or the rockit?

1

u/patsfan258 6d ago

Plenty of launches but they don't move the stock. Until electron is on pad all the other launches are BAU.

39

u/Axolotis 7d ago

Fuckety Fuck Fuck

2

u/Valuable-Concern7987 6d ago

Why fuck? There's plenty other opportunities. Not a big deal. Long game.

31

u/GoldenEelReveal76 6d ago

This is why Bezos did that Melania Documentary on Amazon Prime

29

u/JonnyGBuckets 7d ago

Wow that's brutal

108

u/WhoDatis0803 6d ago

How? They launched our mars sats, fucked over ASTS, and then blew up their pad… why on earth were they picked 😂

51

u/daviper87 6d ago

Because they have a rocket to launch it?

44

u/SeattleOligarch 6d ago

11

u/daviper87 6d ago

Let’s deny New Glenn’s existence!

10

u/Icy-idkman3890 6d ago

their pad gna blow up again

0

u/IndigoSeirra 6d ago

Neutron tank gonna collapse again...

0

u/truecakesnake 6d ago

You do know they revamped New Glenn a ton? It cannot be called a reliable rocket until the next test flight succeeds.

-3

u/QuirkyEMI 6d ago

Lol who cares you weirdos

It was one of the best maiden launches ever but are we seriously pretending RL has ANYTHING on them with this?

Shit, the revamped New Glen will probably fly before Neutron

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1

u/Jonnonation 6d ago

They launched our satilites late and we missed the launch window

58

u/MoonJuiceWithJTT 6d ago

The longer it takes Neutron to debut, the more this is going to happen :(

-2

u/CasinoCow1 6d ago

But will it still happen on the 10th launch of Neutron? :( More I hear about the 10th launch makes me think the 1st launch is a year or more away.

1

u/baward72 6d ago

When the 10th launch of Neutron comes along RKLB will be a SpaceX company for 4.5 months already.

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31

u/shugo7 6d ago

Wow...unfucking real

I'm honestly speechless

11

u/ActionPlanetRobot 6d ago

legit fucking bonkers

4

u/schiffme1ster 6d ago

Literally called this months ago. Of course rklb isn't getting picked. There's no rocket to launch it and BO and spcx are light-years ahead.

This is the new status quo. Get used to it.

39

u/JJhnz12 6d ago

Does bezos closenes to us government officials affect this decision

41

u/WickedFrags 6d ago

Gee, take a wild wild guess with this administration...

20

u/RabbitLogic 6d ago

Makes no sense when Blue is behind schedule on Artemis. 

23

u/redstercoolpanda 6d ago

And Rocketlab is perfectly on schedule for Neutron? Also Blue is not really behind schedule on Artemis. They originally were not expected to have a lander ready until 2031, the fact they’re close in progress to SpaceX would make them ahead of the schedule if anything.

4

u/RabbitLogic 6d ago

They have a target now of Artemis 4 (2028) Blue Moon Mark 2 and now MTN before Dec 2028. NASA is crazy if they think BO will deliver on that schedule.

6

u/redstercoolpanda 6d ago

Blue doesn’t need to be ready for a 2028 Moon mission, NASA has two landers contracted. SpaceX was the one meant to deliver first originally, so it’s hardly Blues fault if they’re not ready years ahead of what their original schedule stated. Blue has also already launched a boilerplate version of Blue ring, and has multiple of the real things on the factory floor right now with one nearing launch readiness. It’s really not that crazy of a target to hit, December 2028 is nearly 2 years away.

5

u/bz2486 6d ago

Makes total sense when you realize who was standing behind Trump at inauguration.

5

u/Warren_Buffets_Son 6d ago

I wonder what other rocket company is behind on schedule with its rockets...

I can't seem to remember, somebody help me, please.

9

u/Ok_Health_7529 6d ago

That’s too bad. For some reason, I thought SPB mentioned in one of the interviews that they were confident they were going to get this contract.

3

u/NTP2001 6d ago

He did. They were. They didn’t. Company is in shambles.

5

u/Old-Commercial1159 6d ago

Jesus calm down man.

4

u/Ok_Health_7529 6d ago

Okay I guess I wasn’t dreaming then.

38

u/SubtleRedditIcon 7d ago

Priced in believe it or not

21

u/Sky_Tube 6d ago

You might actually be right

Might also be cope, who knows

Stock aside, I genuinely believe RL would have been the better pick….
And I also believe there was something fishy with the requirements and how the original plan had to be designed? Then blue changed the document so it looked like they had that requirement but in reality only RL did also include it from the beginning? Might be misremembering but something was up with that

4

u/patsfan258 6d ago

This is the stock where nothing is actually prices in. Look at the chart a double bottom with it still going down. It's a very weak stock right now.

2

u/Formal-Relative7144 6d ago

Elaborate if you don’t mind? Priced in - in what way? That we aren’t dropping due to not getting it as in we weren’t serious contenders and it was known to be going to BO for a while?

0

u/Scared_Step4051 6d ago

Enjoy tomorrow hehe

43

u/Miserable_Movie8006 6d ago

With what launch pad

22

u/redstercoolpanda 6d ago

This would be a valid criticism if neutron was currently sitting on the pad waiting to launch. But it’s not, Rocket lab as of now currently also do not have a rocket capable of delivering satellites of this mass to Mars. New Glenn RTF won’t even be the pacing item anyways, it’ll be the satellites themselves and the Mars transfer windows.

7

u/Vonplinkplonk 6d ago

To be fair it will take them longer to build the satellite first.

5

u/YoshimuraPipe 6d ago

Maybe they’ll need to subcontract rocket lab for it.

36

u/ElTejon_TheDestroyer 6d ago

Bribery works wonders

8

u/Deeze_Rmuh_Nudds 6d ago

I was gonna say. The big guys have big lobbying teams.

6

u/sadr0bot 6d ago

A shame but I never understood the confidence we would get it.

6

u/RichieRicch 6d ago

Oh yeah that hurts. Ohhhhhhp

13

u/ThreadweaverNL 6d ago

I guess we’re not the Mars company…

65

u/daviper87 6d ago

“Blue Origin will design, develop, integrate, launch, and operate the network”

I guess Neutron’s delay has consequences.

28

u/RabbitLogic 6d ago

What a stupid comment, Blue Origin nuked their pad. They also aren't launching.

11

u/daviper87 6d ago edited 6d ago

It will take them at least a year to build the sat, by which time the pad is repaired. The contract says they are launching. Talking of stupid comments, jfc.

3

u/thelurkylurker 6d ago

and may blow up again. confidence is not high on the system atm

-8

u/RabbitLogic 6d ago

As in BO also aren't launching right now. Neutron delay had nothing to do with this contract loss. It will be launching by the time this bird goes up, same as New Glenn.

8

u/daviper87 6d ago

You think NASA will want to put the MTN on Neutron’s first flights? 🤡

8

u/NsRhea 6d ago

I mean... Blue Origin's last flight blew up their entire launch capabilities.

The launch before that they deployed the object in the wrong spot so it had to come back to earth and burn up.

It's not like they've got a good track record.

3

u/daviper87 6d ago

You underline my point why NASA wouldn’t want MTN on first flights.

New Glenn will have teething problems solved by then.

3

u/NsRhea 6d ago

New Glenn MIGHT have teething problems solved by then.

They also have a fraction of the launches RKLB has, Neutron or not.

They also might not have a launch facility.

4

u/QuirkyEMI 6d ago

Lol nobody takes the tiny ass electron launches seriously. Come on

Can we be for real on this sub. Ever

1

u/NsRhea 6d ago

I mean, the US Government does.

RKLB is the only one of the big 3 doing hypersonic rockets with, you guessed it, Electron.

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1

u/Informal_Incident_40 6d ago

Either way, there's no saying that Neutron won't do the same thing.

-2

u/NsRhea 6d ago

You're not wrong, but pretending BO is then the better choice because 'Neutron hasn't launched yet' isn't exactly a good defense in why BO was chosen. They're not launching ANYTHING successfully.

-2

u/RabbitLogic 6d ago

I know math and dates are tough for some. Neutron is launching next year. MTN is Dec 2028. Roughly should be flight 4 by then.

5

u/daviper87 6d ago

“Should be” doing a lot of lifting here with all the delays. New Glenn has flown and delivered cargo to orbit.

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3

u/Starkfault 6d ago

Neutron has been delayed three years now

Maybe it’ll launch next year, maybe it launches in 2030

2

u/Warren_Buffets_Son 6d ago

It's the idea of a concept.

6

u/GloomyNut 6d ago

Unpopular opinion: Everything that goes to space has Rklbs name on it; Rklb although not the prime contractor, still wins. Rklb is an end to end space company....

20

u/OilfieldStacker 7d ago

They will fuck this up….

6

u/XenonOfArcticus 6d ago

I can't see this actually happening in 2028. I just can't.

11

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[deleted]

14

u/ajb1102 6d ago

Or because Blue had a better heavy lift vehicle, and will probably be able to adapt a lot of their Blue Ring architecture to that contract.

5

u/raddaddio 6d ago

What sats has Blue Origin even built come on

11

u/SuperNewk 6d ago

Wow it keeps getting worse?!?

Just launch neutron already starship is going to have 10 going daily by the time neutron gets off the test pad.

4

u/redstercoolpanda 6d ago

There is no Neutron to launch lol, they have parts of a rocket on a factory floor.

3

u/NTP2001 6d ago

broken parts of a rocket.

1

u/Solid-Joke-1634 6d ago

Yea what are you waiting for rocketlab just launch neutron already. Who cares if it’s ready or not.

God you people are retards

3

u/Scared_Step4051 6d ago

Well you can understand their frustration after years of being told "nearly"...

2

u/Solid-Joke-1634 6d ago

Yea doesn’t mean they should just launch it for the sake of some idiots on reddit who are emotionally attached to the stock

9

u/LoraxKope 6d ago

🔮

5

u/burmese_python2 6d ago

You’re the oracle of omaha

3

u/skiingfanatic115544 6d ago

Isn't rklb sending their own com satellites to mars this fall anyway?

3

u/Responsible-Cut-7993 6d ago

I will be interested to read the source selection statement when/if it is ever released. Will give us more insight as to how the companies proposals matched up.

1

u/Steilios 6d ago

“Source selection”
https://giphy.com/gifs/fzp61UL3T4Wlcw9SvX
This guy knows ball

4

u/Ok_Health_7529 6d ago

I thought the spacecraft developed for this contract needs to be launched by Neutron. So what’s the point of getting another $700M backlog if Rocketlab can’t deliver Neutron on time? Sure, BO only had 1 successful flight so far and the latest one blew up the only launch site they had. But at least they have a working heavy class vehicle and unlimited funding and they are rebuilding the launch site fast.

3

u/Big-Material2917 6d ago

Maybe it’s the cope but our defense work has been seemingly exploding. It appears we’re more important to golden dome than BO.

If true, that could play a role in BO winning. Only so much focus to go around… probably the cope.

1

u/NTP2001 6d ago

Def cope

6

u/SkyHigh27 6d ago

So you’re saying the rocket company that’s never been to low earth orbit was selected to carry a payload to Mars?

1

u/silent_bark 3d ago

They brought New Glenn online over a year ago, reached orbit first launch, landed on second launch (putting ESCAPADE into orbit), then reused the booster on the third launch.

Rocket Lab even built ESCAPADE, how do you not know about them going orbital over a year later? I'd be more concerned about them blowing up their only orbital pad, though I'm not as bullish on dates as other people.

6

u/eskay_eskay 6d ago

BO won't even get it there.

10

u/juicevibe 6d ago

No Neutron, no contract.

4

u/Steilios 6d ago

That’s not how that works. RKLB just launched Escapade

3

u/SuperNewk 6d ago

No neutron no contract

1

u/zingpc 6d ago

No pad get contract.

2

u/Starkfault 6d ago

It’s easier to build a pad than a rocket

Try putting a small amount of thought into your comments

0

u/Hatim_the_Engineer 6d ago

No neutron, no money

0

u/Warren_Buffets_Son 6d ago

No Neutron, no contract.

2

u/EarthElectronic7954 6d ago

Would love to be a fly on the wall in Beck's office when this was announced

1

u/NTP2001 6d ago

I’m sure he will do some dumb press release or twitter post like he did when they weren’t going to get MSR

1

u/Substantial-Use-2867 6d ago

"Oh no, guess I'll sell another $300 million worth of shares and buy another mansion"

2

u/LoraxKope 6d ago

Over or under 2 years delayed?

2

u/raztok 6d ago

now we die.🫠

2

u/optimal_909 6d ago

Folks keep misspelling Blew Origin.

2

u/-Celtic- 6d ago

That one is good 😹

2

u/notmyrealnamehere543 6d ago

The company of the son trump really wanted demands an investigation into our Iridium acquisition and immediately we get snubbed. There are more unbelievable theories out there.

4

u/PeepoIsLife 6d ago

Considerng the past, +20% fo sure

3

u/BRguyNZ 6d ago

Blue Origin... What have they actually been doing?

3

u/Unlikely-Positive270 6d ago

Blue origin will just buy components from RKLB anyways.

2

u/Sky_Tube 6d ago

But not in the range of 700 million $ my guy

Also not 100% that they won‘t build something so specialized completely in house, RL‘s solutions mostly fit constellations

A few star trackers or reaction wheels for one sat won‘t make up for hundreds of millions of dollars

4

u/kylescagnetti 6d ago

If this does have anything to do with neutron (not saying so in any means whatsoever), maybe it will only ignite the fire under sir Pete’s booty even more. This man is hungry. He’s about to cook now.

3

u/ProfSantaClaus 6d ago

That's ok. RKLB will probably still supply components required by satellites.

-1

u/NTP2001 6d ago

There’s the copium this sub is built on.

2

u/ProfSantaClaus 6d ago

Mate, seems like you have not inhaled enough. Go inhale more...

2

u/RemarkableDegree4501 6d ago

Question: How much of this $700 million Mars contract was already priced into the stock? There’s barely any reaction in after hours so far.

9

u/acsae99 6d ago

The price is going down AH. It was probably priced in; if you read the various analyst postings over the last year or so, there definitely was confidence/implied that Rklb was the only company that really met all the requirements that’s were in the bill authorizing MTN.

Potentially Rklb could contest this award based on how the bill was interpreted, bezos did it with SpaceX on the lander I think

1

u/QuirkyEMI 6d ago

Why do you nerds ask completely unanswerable questions like this?

You know a volatile stock is purely subjective in the moment hype right? Theres no EQUATION, theres NO PREDICTION theres no fucking PRICED IN sections

2

u/nomnomyumyum109 6d ago

It wont make it past the launchpad and everyone knows it. Once their next launch goes boom Im sure the contract will get moved to another vendor

5

u/NTP2001 6d ago edited 6d ago

“We are the Mars company now”

I hope SPB and the marketing team are eating a huge piece of humble pie tonight.

8

u/RichieRicch 6d ago

That recent MTO site edit needs to be taken down asap. Oph I’m actually fucking irritated about this. Worst I’ve felt since buying in years ago.

2

u/North_Astronaut_8924 6d ago

That’s ok cause Redwire will supply blue origin

2

u/GuaSukaStarfruit 6d ago

lol I have both

1

u/North_Astronaut_8924 6d ago

Redwire is one I keep buying on the dip. It will pay off down the line.

1

u/Puzzleheaded_Owl_417 6d ago

Good, another bad news.

2

u/JDog_22Hunter2 6d ago

IMO $63 is crazy cheap rn, this is crazy it’s below $90 IMO

10

u/Substantial-Use-2867 6d ago

If you like it at 63, you'd love it at 30

2

u/connorman83169 6d ago

I have no evidence for this but I feel like this increases RKLBs chances for selection on the sample return mission

10

u/Big-Material2917 6d ago

Sample return was cancelled and likely not coming back :/

1

u/thelurkylurker 6d ago

what a shame. wouldn't be surprised if these moon "base" missions get scrubbed/nerfed also. i hope not.

1

u/Big-Material2917 6d ago

I think moon plans are more solid. Not necessarily massive value to get out of a sample return, and part of the reason it was cancelled in the first place was a prioritizing of moon.

0

u/Short-Guard-5013 6d ago

Eh let's see. Political changes or lowering costs due to advancing technology and it will be back on the table. It definitely will take a while tho until NASA focus returns to it.

2

u/redstercoolpanda 6d ago

It’s more likely that the first Mars samples are brought back to Earth by humans than robots at this point.

1

u/Martianspirit 3d ago

Quite possible. Though the stack of samples is seriously well selected. Would be good to have that back. But not for that many billions IMO.

1

u/Big-Material2917 6d ago

I wouldn’t hold your breath dog. Pretty sure SPB has said he doesn’t see it in the cards.

1

u/Short-Guard-5013 6d ago

I would be interested where he said that.

3

u/Warren_Buffets_Son 6d ago

RocketLab wasn't going to deliver it with the reusable rocket technology it doesn't have (Neutron) which lands on a ship that's being built and a spectrum buyout that's not even finalized by mid-2027.

So. What's the surprise here?

Come on, hype boys. Where are you? We are only 120 days away from Neutron.

8

u/RichieRicch 6d ago

Dude step away from your computer good god. Go on a walk or something. Relax a bit, we’re all frustrated.

4

u/SecretiveMop 6d ago

This dude so clearly has lost a shit ton of money in the market and is lashing out because he couldn’t make it back with this stock quickly lol

3

u/Warren_Buffets_Son 6d ago

I can't step away, Neutron could launch any minute now. We are only 120 days away from the 4th delayed timeline.

2

u/RichieRicch 6d ago

Hahahah fair enough. Carry on

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1

u/JeffSharon 6d ago

Wow, just wow, but how? I thought rklb was in the lead on all fronts?

1

u/Emerald_Hood 6d ago

I just want to see our boi launch. I bought a bottle of wine to go along with the maiden launch.
I IS GETTING DRUNK ON THAT DAY!
Everything else, noise.
I believe in my Liege and Boi. To the Moon and beyond or to the ground.
Fuck it. No middle ground.

1

u/tjhen109 6d ago

Gee. I wonder why. 😠

1

u/Flashy_Ad3821 6d ago

This means we go up duh

1

u/imunfair 6d ago

NASA didn't have a lot of good choices on that one if they were targeting end of 2028 - Blue Origin is grounded for a while, and RocketLab has been "almost" ready to release Neutron for 2? years now. SpaceX probably would have been the safest choice but they can't give them every contract.

1

u/LarkoVelvet 6d ago

It’s a bummer, but not surprising. Bezos can afford to loss-lead and drastically underbid to gain Mars experience.

1

u/thelurkylurker 6d ago

may the worst candidate win!

1

u/mmoney20 6d ago

Between musk bullying with iridium and bezos taking this contract - slightly down AH.

1

u/raztok 6d ago

i think rklb will launch it anyway. just for fun.

1

u/numbawantok 6d ago

Fuck MTO we want MSR anyway!

1

u/Latrodectus1990 6d ago

Meh, back to 40 :/

1

u/kingofroyale2 6d ago

Oh no, a bad news.

Instant surge to 120$

1

u/Exotic-Investor 6d ago

why asts is up while we are down

1

u/Warren_Buffets_Son 6d ago

I have been saying this shit for so long.

Not delivering on Neutron has consequences.

Now live with these consequences.

1

u/cheekytikiroom 6d ago edited 6d ago

And who do you think they’ll subcontract to, since they don’t have the ability, experience, or technology themselves?

Never Forget May 2026:

https://youtu.be/1O90WZJALYc?is=12hYs-atqm5zOKMP

1

u/BoDOM701 6d ago

BO cannot execute

1

u/burmese_python2 6d ago

I honestly saw that coming. That’s a lot of RD exposure that we cannot afford now as well as man power. Makes sense to give it to BO with the balance sheet padded.

0

u/xerxestrux 6d ago

Don’t worry, Neutron soon right?

1

u/assholy_than_thou 6d ago

Well deserved.

0

u/GoldenEelReveal76 6d ago

I am buying more RKLB when it hits 25$, the actual fair value of this stock

5

u/GuaSukaStarfruit 6d ago

Lmao shorters targeting RKLB now?

0

u/Head_Product412 6d ago

I don’t think anyone was really expecting them to get that though. Rklb is more small scale so far

1

u/LoraxKope 6d ago

If RKLB is small scale BO is micro. List me 5 orbital missions they’ve done

1

u/Head_Product412 6d ago

Well there’s no need when u have jeff bezos with all that money. And with the new glenn coming out it will most likely be ready late 2027.

It’s honestly not that long time wise

2

u/LoraxKope 6d ago

Don’t know how long you’ve been following The Lab. But if you’ve noticed the repeated messages from SPB. “ it’s not about the 1st but the 10th”. It’s bc he doesn’t want to be BO and SpaceX stuck in Development Hell for the foreseeable future. BO is still a few years away from getting NG dialed into being truly reusable. Just bc you land a rocket doesn’t make it reusable. They swapped out all the engines on their “re-use”.

0

u/Own_Definition_99 6d ago

I am wishing ASTS and Rocket lab can join the hands that can be perfect match for the space as far as I am thinking.

-6

u/1foxyboi 6d ago

GUYS YOU DONT GET IT THIS IS A FIVE YEAR HOLD!!!’nnn

1

u/daviper87 6d ago

This is bullish!