spcialkfpc
spcialkfpc t1_iwhmqv3 wrote
Reply to comment by Routine_Shine_1921 in How many different companies now have built a rocket and used it to deliver anything or people to space (besides government organizations like NASA and the Russian equivalent)? by Courcy6185
How much of SpaceX isn't funded through Government contracts? "Private" is extremely loose when it comes to space.
spcialkfpc t1_iwhvbno wrote
Reply to comment by Routine_Shine_1921 in How many different companies now have built a rocket and used it to deliver anything or people to space (besides government organizations like NASA and the Russian equivalent)? by Courcy6185
Correct. SpaceX developed a vehicle for space launches with private capital. In order to launch it, the DoD provided funding under DARPA, and access to the launch site, which was subsidized by the US Government. Under the same program, a dummy payload was successfully put into orbit. The first time SpaceX put its vehicle into orbit (Falcon 1, 2008) was with a NASA funded competition for servicing the ISS. The first SpaceX manned flight was with NASA, and NASA funded with NASA astronauts. SpaceX built a launch site in Texas, with Government subsidies and agreements. SpaceX has successfully put hundreds of satellites into orbit, with both commercial and Government money. SpaceX has yet to put a vehicle in sustained orbit, but that is being subsidized with Government money and contracts.
SpaceX is steeped in Government money, by design.