space x funding

[backscatter712]

6. Cheaper access to space, reinvigorated competition to get into space.

Maybe I'm the only person who actually likes SpaceX here.

Let's face it. The Shuttle cost well over one billion dollars per launch, it was maintenance-intensive, it was dangerous. It accomplished great things, but it's time to move on.

The government alternatives like the SLS promise to fare little better - they're using the old methods that have the government contractors feeding at the trough and flushing money down the toilet.

But I'm quite impressed with what SpaceX has accomplished. They've built the Falcon 1 and the Falcon 9, they built the Dragon, they've done it for a fraction of what other launch systems cost.