[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Spuds

Falcon 9 costs were paid by government (Wikipedia for ease of reference):
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_9_v1.0

I believe Dragon was also paid by NASA.

It depends on how you look at it. NASA prepaid for flights, providing development funds, but it's not "owned" by NASA the way the previous programs have been. It more follows the military funding model where they are developed by private firms with government funding and guarantees.

Part of the cost is offset by private revenue potential and capital. That did not happen prior to this.

Starship is an example of this. Space-X undercut the other bidders by leveraging the potential commercial aspects of it to reduce the cost for the lander.