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Re:Two perspectives on a designer who Steve Jobs could not hire by TeMPOraL on Wednesday August 25, 2021 @05:18AM (#28299455)
> are these space programs really profitable for the billionaires in question?

They aren't. We have currently two billionaire hobby space programs. One is a pure hobby and doesn't do actual space yet (suborbital hops != orbit). The other one exists solely to open Mars for regular access and eventual colonization, in the process also opening up near-Earth space for general exploration and exploitation. If it succeeds, it'll create an unprecedented amount of lasting value for humanity in general.

Really, complaining about billionaire space is one of the dumbest part of the current zeitgeist.

Re:Two perspectives on a designer who Steve Jobs could not hire by cycomanic on Wednesday August 25, 2021 @05:44AM (#28299583)
If you read the wikipedia page for SpaceX (which is as neutral as you are likely to get) you see that in the first 10 years of operation, SpaceX spend $1 billion, of which $200M were private investments (Musk $100M) and $400M came from NASA via progress payments on launch contracts, so yes SpaceX was primarily funded through government contracts. It doesn't really matter if they made a profit or not, the growth of SpaceX is largely build on government spending.
Re:Two perspectives on a designer who Steve Jobs could not hire by namdnay on Wednesday August 25, 2021 @11:07AM (#28302568)
To quote you:

> largely redistributing wealth from the commons to rich billionaires

Which means that you are saying that Musk is getting taxpayer money from SpaceX. This clearly isn't the case, he's sinking his own money into it too

Re:Two perspectives on a designer who Steve Jobs could not hire by cycomanic on Thursday August 26, 2021 @07:06AM (#28313228)
I'm not sure how you think investment works. He is not donating his money to SpaceX and it disappears. If the government contracts increase the value of SpaceX it is increasing his investment.
Re:Two perspectives on a designer who Steve Jobs could not hire by TeMPOraL on Thursday August 26, 2021 @02:52AM (#28311480)
> It doesn't really matter if they made a profit or not, the growth of SpaceX is largely build on government spending.

Well, yes, they're a real company providing real services and getting paid in exchange.

Anyway, whether the contracts are private or government is off-topic (if it was, I'd point out that the government is getting a really good deal here, which is a very rare case in large-scale government spending). The point is, all that money isn't being funneled to line Musk's pockets, it's being reinvested straight into "let's go to Mars" R&D program.

Re:Two perspectives on a designer who Steve Jobs could not hire by theonlybutlet on Wednesday August 25, 2021 @06:33AM (#28299869)
And the product of this investment will benefit all, it's not just some billionaire rollercoaster unlike others * cough * blue origin * cough *.
Re:Two perspectives on a designer who Steve Jobs could not hire by cycomanic on Thursday August 26, 2021 @07:06AM (#28313230)
How?
Re:Two perspectives on a designer who Steve Jobs could not hire by theonlybutlet on Thursday August 26, 2021 @10:33AM (#28315461)
In ways we are already seeing tangible benefits: supply missions and passenger missions to the ISS, Commercial and military satellite launches, Starlink. Future benefits this tech would potentially support: asteroid mining, colonising other planets.

The other company I reference have not made a commercially viable rocket that will get you into orbit.