Because SpaceX is private, it creates a proven market for selling space exploration vehicle use to the government. Other players will be able to join them. Th

Because SpaceX is private, it creates a proven market for selling space exploration vehicle use to the government. Other players will be able to join them. The government will then have options in which space companies to use. That creates competition. Competition fosters innovation. Eventually, space exploitation will become economically feasible to be funded by private interests. Once that happens, the real "space race" will be on. As an example of the value of privatization, look at the history of the Internet [1]. The protocols and useful infrastructure were worked out and available in the 70s. When I was in college in the 80s, we had internet connections. I played games with it, read usenet, traded files with people around the world, etc. I thought it was really cool, but couldn't imagine how my mom would ever get a chance to use it. Then around 1995, the Internet was opened up to private interests. Growth exploded. Billions of extra dollars from all sectors of the economy were willingly poured into expanding the internet so that everyone's mom could access it. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet