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> A Pentagon official tells Farrow that it “sucks” to live in a world where “Elon runs this company and it is a private business under his control.” I get the s
by ryzvonusef 3y ago
> A Pentagon official tells Farrow that it “sucks” to live in a world where “Elon runs this company and it is a private business under his control.” I get the sentiment, but is he aware of how every other military capability is provided in the US? The problem of the military industrial complex isn’t limited to SpaceX, or even the executive branch—pork-barrel loving lawmakers helped create the conditions for SpaceX’s rivals to wallow in the trough. And SpaceX wouldn’t stand alone if companies like Boeing, which receive much more generous treatment from the government, hadn’t failed repeatedly to deliver.
- mytailorisrich 3y agoThe issue the Pentagon has is not that SpaceX is a private business but that they they do not depend on orders from the Pentagon even if Elon owns it. In the US the companies providing hardware and services to the Pentagon are private, but many of them depend so much on government/military contracts that the Pentagon effectively controls them. For instance, it takes a few minutes to find out that 85% of Northrop Grumman's revenue comes from the US government and that 2 former military high-ups sit on its board...