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A few months ago I had a chat to one of the engineers working on the SLS during a NASA outreach presentation. Super defensive about it and dismissive of SpaceX

A few months ago I had a chat to one of the engineers working on the SLS during a NASA outreach presentation. Super defensive about it and dismissive of SpaceX and their accomplishments. The goals of the SLS mission before 2030, build an orbiting moon space station, isn't even that ambitious or scientifically valuable. 2 years ago, I was having a similar chat to someone who was a retired ULA ~30 launch veteran (I forget exactly their title). But they didn't want to entertain the idea that SpaceX even had a business model. 'The market that they're aiming for is only a few launches a year'

imron 8y ago
> The market that they're aiming for is only a few launches a year' In 1958, the chairman of IBM stated 'I think there is a world market for about five computers'. He wasn't wrong, because back then computers were extraordinarily expensive and occupied entire buildings. There was maybe a worldwide market of about 5 of those kinds of computers. What happened though was that due to technological advances, computers became cheaper, smaller, more efficient and more reliable and it drastically changed the entire market, and now almost everyone has a computer in their pocket. The market for rocket launches will also significantly take off if SpaceX can bring the cost down and the reliability up.