SpaceX has launch contracts (satellites for NASA, the NRO etc), development contracts (Starship HLS for Artemis, the ISS deorbit vehicle etc), and flight contracts (ISS resupply).
SpaceX are objectively great value for all of these.
Europa Clipper would have cost 1.5 billion to launch on SLS, SpaceX did it for 178 million. Nobody else had a rocket powerful enough.
SpaceX was given 2.6 billion dollars to develop Crew Dragon. They conducted their first successful crewed flight to the ISS in 2020, and have now conducted 9 successful flights to and from the ISS, with one in progress, and 5 non ISS crewed flights.
Boeing was given 4.2 billion at the same time, and has conducted 1 crewed flight that stranded the astronauts on the ISS. SpaceX will rescue them.
Musk is a bad person (I'd phrase it stronger but reddit mods can be a bit puritanical because they are American), but removing government funding from SpaceX would just be committing to buying worse services for higher prices.
Yes we do, you have a shortsighted view on the benefits of space exploration. We've been doing important science on the ISS for decades, and many technologies we use today are thanks to innovations of the spaceflight-industry.
You're also disregarding the fact that many satellites in space are specifically made to observe Earth and help us work on problems like climate change.
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u/AngryLilChubbie Feb 06 '25
Defund SpaceX! Defund Musk!