I read the article, the patent release was 2016. Yes, its probably going to be helpful to Musk going forward but the company wasn't built on these patents by a

I read the article, the patent release was 2016. Yes, its probably going to be helpful to Musk going forward but the company wasn't built on these patents by any stretch of the imagination. By 2016 SpaceX were already landing boosters. And yes, Nasa (and the DOD) are probably the most important customers of SpaceX... So? Its not like SpaceX are getting free money there. They are providing a service to the government, and getting paid for it - And providing that service at a lower cost than the government would bear if they did it themselves, and a lower cost than their competitors (I'm looking at Boeing - They are getting paid 60% more than SpaceX per seat for commercial crew flights to the ISS) Also look into the Raptor engine SpaceX have developed. Its a key plank for their future mars ambitions. Its the most advanced rocket engine ever developed and SpaceX funded its development themselves.