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The vast majority of government research for space launches was done by the Nazis. Everyone has access to that and NASAs research, yet... SpaceX is currently l

The vast majority of government research for space launches was done by the Nazis. Everyone has access to that and NASAs research, yet... SpaceX is currently launching space shuttle sized payloads for a price that is over 40 times less than the shuttle, and less than half the cost of other private competitors, and at a cadence none of them have ever achieved. Re-use is the key launch technology of the future and its greatest and only commercial application has been done by SpaceX.

Pica_soO 9y ago
The key is to no longer take the fuel with you up there.
sidlls 9y ago
They're a private company the same way any company that is effectively funded by government contract is. Technically it's true, but they haven't demonstrated actual viability in the private market (much less profitability). And the achievements you note have little or nothing to do with their status as a private company and almost everything to do with taking advantage of government research from the past half-century. The bit about Nazis is entirely irrelevant.
- MattRix 9y ago
  Maybe you missed the part about it being 1/40th the cost.
  - sidlls 9y ago
    No, I did not: > the achievements you note have little or nothing to do with their status as a private company and almost everything to do with taking advantage of government research from the past half-century
adventured 9y ago
> The vast majority of government research for space launches was done by the Nazis The extreme majority of government research for space launches has occurred since 1950. The extraordinary resources put into the US space program, including the research necessary, makes the Nazi efforts look hilariously trivial by comparison.