Quote:
Originally Posted by Dadhawk
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.
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Oh I absolutely understand how it is different than, for example, space shuttle development, but it is still dependent on government investment. There is not yet enough demand to fund a lot of this stuff privately. The phrase "Private industry FTW" is definitely appropriate here, but "Capitalism FTW" seems like it is giving praise to the wrong concept in this particular case.