&gt; But the F9 first stage doesn&#x27;t get to orbital velocity, either, remember.<p>It gets a whole lot closer (and is _much_ larger).<p>I really can&#x27;t emphasize enough how much of a difference the ability to hover makes for New Shepard. SpaceX has been doing &quot;New Shepard&quot; type flights for a long time now (they didn&#x27;t bother going that high, but &#x27;high&#x27; isn&#x27;t really that interesting, it&#x27;s &#x27;fast&#x27; that matters). However, Grasshopper (like New Shepard) was able to throttle down to a TWR less than 1. That makes landing so much easier (the rocket can &#x27;stop&#x27; and get settled before it proceeds to land).