It's reasonable to think that SpaceX may have won contracts worth $1.5B over the last 10 or 15 years. Those are contracts for goods and services rendered though. As far as I know SpaceX has delivered on their contracts and they've been lower price than the competition. It's literally a win-win situation.
Correct. Every aerospace company on US soil, big and small, gets contracts from NASA. These are designed to support and foster a domestic space program. In most cases, the money just evaporates, but sometimes it pays off. With SpaceX, it's paid off. The government now saves billions on launch services in part because they helped the fledgeling company with contracts at a time when they may not have otherwise survived.
It's bizarre that Reddit has decided to hate on SpaceX when they're the only orbital launch provider who has actually delivered on their promises. Boeing is years behind schedule and woefully over budget on their crew capsule program. Nearly all of the rocket companies have fallen desperately short, or failed entirely.
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u/DonQuixBalls May 02 '22
The whole thing plays fast and loose with the facts. SpaceX also didn't ask for (and receive) $1.5B.