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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.)
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.