Re:As the SpaceX steamroller surges, European rocket industr...
by WhompingWindows on Friday July 20, 2018 @04:03PM
(#17578448)
SpaceX was "subsidized" by the govt even as they provided services to the govt in exchange for money. That's called business, and the customer here is the government. It's also in the best interest, long term financially, to have an American space launch company, so we don't have to give money to the Russians or Europeans to launch our astronauts or satellites. Language matters, subsidy vs. contract is an important distinction
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Re:As the SpaceX steamroller surges, European rocket industr...
by marsokod on Friday July 20, 2018 @06:50PM
(#17579625)
In government contracts in the aerospace and defence, the semantic distinction blurs a little bit.
Government contracts are often inflated on purpose so that the work can leak towards other projects. Every country does that.
Re:As the SpaceX steamroller surges, European rocket industr...
by WhompingWindows on Monday July 23, 2018 @01:09PM
(#17594096)
No doubt, contract bloat and missed deadlines are a hallmark of government contracting. Some combination of opportunism and lack of proper forecasting/planning lead to someone like ULA having much, much higher costs than a company like SpaceX.