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A comment on SpaceX undercut ULA rocket launch pricing by 40 percent: U.S. Air Force. Parent comment

Re:SpaceX undercut ULA rocket launch pricing by 40 percent: ... by rebootthesystem on Friday April 29, 2016 @12:35AM (#11593784)
You are missing a very important data point: ULA receives nearly a billion dollars a year just to exist. They don't have to deliver a single vehicle. Free tax-payer money being gifted to the highest bidder.

THAT has to end. Then let's see them compete.

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Re:SpaceX undercut ULA rocket launch pricing by 40 percent: ... by nradov on Friday April 29, 2016 @10:01AM (#11595747)
You're mischaracterizing the payment. It isn't for existing, it's for maintaining standby launch capabilities. Being able to launch a military satellite on demand is valuable for national security purposes. So taxpayers are getting something for that money. (Whether we should be spending so much on the military in the first place is a separate issue.)
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Re:SpaceX undercut ULA rocket launch pricing by 40 percent: ... by rebootthesystem on Tuesday May 03, 2016 @01:21AM (#11618126)
No. It's to exist.

Remove that subsidy and they implode instantaneously. Their cost per launch would be just about the highest in the world.

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Re:SpaceX undercut ULA rocket launch pricing by 40 percent: ... by oarsinsync on Friday April 29, 2016 @03:57AM (#11594346)
How/why/what? Is it through subsidies, or preferred govt contracts, or what? Why are they just being given money?
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Re:SpaceX undercut ULA rocket launch pricing by 40 percent: ... by rebootthesystem on Tuesday May 03, 2016 @01:23AM (#11618129)
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/04/04/these-corpo...
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Re:SpaceX undercut ULA rocket launch pricing by 40 percent: ... by BurningFrog on Friday April 29, 2016 @03:55AM (#11594343)
How much are they bidding?

I'm in for $999M

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