>> Private companies like SpaceX will save us Well, all the previous private companies that built spacecraft for decades didn't manage to save us. (Space Shut

>> Private companies like SpaceX will save us Well, all the previous private companies that built spacecraft for decades didn't manage to save us. (Space Shuttle = Rockwell, Apollo capsule = North American, Saturn V = Boeing, Mercury Capsule = McDonnell Douglas.) The fact that a device was designed/built/operated by a company with shareholders doesn't make it magically more efficient. What matters is how the entire operation is managed, something more tied to the identity of the customer than that of the contractor.