>they used a lot of the public funds to just throw shit at the wall, and see what sticks.
This is where I think the business acumen came into play. Because the govt is self-insured, it allowed SpaceX to pass the high risk off to the taxpayer. Once the tech matured, the risk was low enough to be palatable for private industry use.
And FWIW, I don’t mean that as disparaging to SpaceX, just an acknowledgment of the risk dynamics.
It would be nice to hear the contrary perspectives that lead to downvotes. From my perspective, the advice dynamic is very clear. There was relatively little investment and private customer engagement with SpaceX until large government contracts were secured. The risk was just too high for any org except the government to bear, until the tech matured.
You’re right, but missed the point. It’s great they designed for reusability. However, little private money was willing to bet on that early in the game. It was still reliant on a govt willing to take that risk. That’s the way high risk nascent industries tend to become mature, lower risk industries.
The government took a risk on an unproven launch provider. The fact that they were unproven is precisely why private money wouldn’t bet on them. When they secured large government contracts the risk balance changed and private money started increasing.
I’m not making an argument about reusability. I’m talking about the business risk. Note my original statement is about business strategy.
The Feds do bear most of the launch risk. That’s exactly what “self-insured” means. If you have enough wealth, many states allow you to self-insure your car; that means if something happens the resulting financial responsibility is yours. In the case of spaceflight, when a govt loses its payload, the taxpayer just eats that cost; no insurance company reimburses them. Many in the govt aren’t thrilled with that risk dynamic because it subsidizes the risk but privatizes the profit. But when the risk of a new industry is too high for private industry to shoulder, the government is about the only game in town with that level of risk tolerance.
This is where I think the business acumen came into play. Because the govt is self-insured, it allowed SpaceX to pass the high risk off to the taxpayer. Once the tech matured, the risk was low enough to be palatable for private industry use.
And FWIW, I don’t mean that as disparaging to SpaceX, just an acknowledgment of the risk dynamics.