[panick21_]

> BE-4 engines from Blue Origin are fantastic

Are they? Outside of being staged combustion they aren't that impressive. Their chamber-pressure is still really low. The TWR isn't that great. For a staged engine they are entry level.

Their re-usability is theoretical at this point. The early engines the delivered to ULA are not the reusable version that will later go on New Glenn.

> I see a real chance to be competitive with SpaceX long term.

'competitive' as in actually peer competition, not really.

But I guess they can 'compete' by 'Jeff Bezos is gone finance the company for many 100s of million of $ every month' for the next decade.

[dotnet00]

The reusability on BE-4 is not theoretical.

Yes, the ones flown on Vulcan do not do relighting. However, we do know of engines BO has test fired where they have tested restart capability.

https://twitter.com/blueorigin/status/1521204214084796416

[panick21_]

Many engines that are not reusable can be started multiple times. Actually having the certification that you can relaunch with the engine after you have done a reentry and landing is required.

[dotnet00]

That's a pretty convenient goalpost to move to. Raptor also is only theoretically reusable by that metric.

[Teever]

it's not goalpost shifting at all.

BO doesn't have a reusable engine until they demonstrate that their engine is reusable.