I read recently a pretty good take on this. It goes something like, in order of most risky to least risky: - Government funding is for super high risk, high re

I read recently a pretty good take on this. It goes something like, in order of most risky to least risky: - Government funding is for super high risk, high reward long shots that may never work or prove useful. - Then, VC funding when it's high risk, but within a few years horizon of working or proving useful. - Last, public funding for stuff that's obviously going to work. NASA is in the business of de-risking the edge. Then VC-backed stuff like SpaceX/Rocket Lab/Relativity Space can come and do the still-risky-but-still-less-risky bets. Public companies like Boeing/Lockheed Martin can be in the business of launching rockets as is well known and done for decades now.