> But the taxpayer is still paying for about 80% of each rocket that explodes. [Citation needed] The only support NASA has given SpaceX for Starship is the HL

> But the taxpayer is still paying for about 80% of each rocket that explodes. [Citation needed] The only support NASA has given SpaceX for Starship is the HLS contract[1]. And that is a firm, fixed-price milestone based contract. NASA doesn't pay for any failures there. --- 1. Technically not true - there is a very minor fuel transfer demonstration contract. But that, too, only pays out on success.