> Congress would be dumb to pick a new horse now I don't think SpaceX would be as strong if not that early NASA funding. "SpaceX contracted with the US governm

> Congress would be dumb to pick a new horse now I don't think SpaceX would be as strong if not that early NASA funding. "SpaceX contracted with the US government for a portion of the development funding for the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, which uses a modified version of the Merlin rocket engine." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_SpaceX https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_SpaceX So by your thinking, they could have only invested in old-school-reliable-expensive rocket companies, because less risk is involved... So funding a space company that doesn't yet have required capability but can be helped to get there - is not dumb.