[antimagic]

That's not entirely true. Grasshopper is entirely capable of hovering, there are plenty of videos of it doing precisely that. The Falcon 9 landings that have been attempted are a different story because they actually weigh much less at the time of landing because they have burned off most of their fuel. This makes the thrust to weight ratio much higher, making hovering impossible.

The important difference between this New Shepherd flight and those Falcon 9 tests is that the Falcon 9s launched payload to orbit. They burned all their fuel, leaving them with the incredibly difficult slam-landing manoeuver to manage at the end. They have gone close, very close, but have not yet got things entirely right.

So, although this was an impressive technological demonstration, it's a long way from demonstrating a relaunch capability. I look forward to seeing new developments.

[danielvf]

Which part is not true?

[aerovistae]

"Because of this inability to hover the Falcon 9 first stage..."

The notion that Blue Origin has accomplished something SpaceX hasn't quite worked out is quite a laugh.

[danielvf]

SpaceX has said repeatedly that the current Falcon 9 first stage cannot hover when landing after returning from a launch.

The SpaceX Grasshopper can hover, but that's a different rocket and its not following a trajectoy returning from space.