So far, BO has only landed successfully on land. The flight profile and everything they have learned by experience is only the most simple and basic situation. Also, it is unlikely that they will be doing anything like the landing profile they had with New Shepard. The difference between landing on a somewhat stationary ship/barge and a moving ship from an orbital launch boost profile is also utterly different. However if you can land on a somewhat stationary ASDS/ship (it is still moving in three dimensions) then you can land on a ship that is in motion as well. SpaceX has done it on an ASDS and if it were necessary and available then I'm sure they could pull it off on a moving ship as well. It is really not much more complex than what they are already doing.
I think for BO it would actually be more expensive to find or build an extra large ASDS than it would to find a used container ship or a used tanker of some sort and modify that. A large ship will not have the same station keeping ability that the ASDS has. So it either sits still and is tossed about creating a randomly angling surface much more dramatic than the ASDS or the ship is in motion creating a much more stable landing surface. So, according to the much more experienced SpaceX enthusiasts with science and engineering degrees, BO's animation is probably correct that New Glenn will likely be landing on a moving ship.
Either way, I'm expecting a number of failures before BO gets it right just like SpaceX did.
I am actually most fascinated with the fact that BO seems to be doing a completely different re-entry profile than SpaceX. From what I gather it will be much more fuel intensive but have less reentry damage. My common sense is telling me that there will probably be more stresses on the rocket body in this situation though. If they do go about this in a completely different way then I would consider that a huge win because then there will be more than one way to achieve reusability. Very cool.
I'm not so sure about that. Remember the SpaceX video showing the three camera view of an ASDS landing for JCSAT 14? Here it is:
On the second angle you can see the ocean in the background. Look at it closely and you can see a pretty significant amount of movement compared to the ASDS. It sure looks like more than a meter to me. That doesn't mean that Elon knows something more than I do, of course. Maybe it is less than 1 meter change before touchdown actually occurs because of data flow between the booster and the ASDS.
I think for BO it would actually be more expensive to find or build an extra large ASDS than it would to find a used container ship or a used tanker of some sort and modify that. A large ship will not have the same station keeping ability that the ASDS has. So it either sits still and is tossed about creating a randomly angling surface much more dramatic than the ASDS or the ship is in motion creating a much more stable landing surface. So, according to the much more experienced SpaceX enthusiasts with science and engineering degrees, BO's animation is probably correct that New Glenn will likely be landing on a moving ship.
Either way, I'm expecting a number of failures before BO gets it right just like SpaceX did.
I am actually most fascinated with the fact that BO seems to be doing a completely different re-entry profile than SpaceX. From what I gather it will be much more fuel intensive but have less reentry damage. My common sense is telling me that there will probably be more stresses on the rocket body in this situation though. If they do go about this in a completely different way then I would consider that a huge win because then there will be more than one way to achieve reusability. Very cool.
It clearly does not need to be "moving" for a successful stage landing. The SpaceX ASDS's hold position to within a meter (according to Elon) during a stage landing.
I'm not so sure about that. Remember the SpaceX video showing the three camera view of an ASDS landing for JCSAT 14? Here it is:
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