Funding hugely expensive non-reusable technology, based on 70s Shuttle components, from traditional cost-plus contractors is not the way to put pressure on SpaceX. That will come from Blue Origin, and almost certainly the Russians and Chinese. It's unlikely they will sit by and leave reusability a US/SpaceX exclusive capability.

I wouldn't bet on Russia and China still has a lot of catching up to do. If we're talking about putting stuff in orbit cheaply I wouldn't rule out India but there are also a host of companies with small rockets that show some promise.

And ULA has a good story about their work on in-space reuse of rockets even if they aren't going to be reusing boosters any time soon.

I'm actually quite bullish about Boeing, Lockheed and the other big space contractors even if SpaceX and BO (ho, ho) do eat their lunch on boosters. If access to space costs peanuts, companies and governments are going to want to put a heck of a lot more stuff up there. That means someone is going to have to build it all.

Even if SpaceX themselves have no interest in going to The Moon, they're not going to say no to a contract to put a Lockheed/ Boeing/ etc NASA funded Moon mission into orbit for them.

It's worth noting that Boeing's satellite division already did a special design of an all-electric-propulsion GEO satellite, which can launch 2 at a time on Falcon 9 and reduce launch costs even further. They've sold and launched 2 pairs so far.

Strike Russians from that list. Angara isn't ready yet and not heavy at all, there are no other launchers in the works and the industry is in shambles.

Why would you fund the SLS then? That makes no sense. If they want to keep ULA around they should tell them to hurry up on the Vulcan Rocket. Then they can throw them a couple of flights.

>Boeing and ULA became complacent without competition. The same would likely happen to SpaceX if Boeing didn't have a heavy launch vehicle to rival the Falcon Heavy.

So are you saying Musk would just sit back and collect money from Falcon Heavy for the rest of his life? No, he is planning to go to Mars, so SpaceX is going to advance the technology as fast as it can.

Were you really unaware of that? Or perhaps you work for ULA.

Regarding SpaceX potential complacency, I think Elon's insanity would prevent that from ever happening. The problem with Boeing and ULA is that they don't have Elon at the helm, just lobbyists and conservative engineers. Better to give all the money to SpaceX and let SpaceX's momentum get us to Mars even faster IMO.

Let's...not rely on that? Bad gamble as a tax payer.

You can think what you want. But if you're perceptive and think really hard about the individuals at the front of companies, and you've spent time thinking about Elon Musk, it's really clear that he will never stop until someone assassinates him.

The guy had a dad who psychologically tortured him, he got thrown down stairs by gangs of blacks in apartheid South Africa, and he completely detached himself from any social connections when he was 17 by moving to Canada. The guy's only reason to live is to fulfill his dreams that he gained from reading every single science fiction book that existed.

Anyway you can think what you want but I know that he's not like the other CEOs that are career CEOs. He's on a mission fueled by intense hardship and retribution

Nobody lives forever. Assassination isn't the only possibility for untimely death when you are around rockets. If Elon passes away, is it possible the successor will "milk the cow" without funding R&D? Yes. Putting all eggs in one basket is unwise.