Very good point about market price vs costs. But I see the NASA contract as a form of investment. NASA needs a domestic provider, and SpaceX is a good match - g

Very good point about market price vs costs. But I see the NASA contract as a form of investment. NASA needs a domestic provider, and SpaceX is a good match - good enough to be worth paying at _current_ market price. What will happen when the technology is proven and ready to scale is a completely different game. As the GP said, the configuration and special requirements will likely keep the price up for government contracts. On the private end however the new market price will depend heavily on how much this technology can be scaled and how the market will react to a lower price. The exact figure is known to nobody, but enough variables are being changed to have a real hope that it will be sensibly lower.