> for-profit defense industry was in reality just a way to siphon money from the tax payers (government). yep. why do you think nobody ever propulsively landed a payload or booster stage of a rocket until musk came around despite the tech for it existing and takeoff and landing cycles having succeeded almost 25 years earlier with mcdonnell douglas's delta clipper? why contractors like lockheed, boeing, md back in the day, ula now, esa and northrop struggle to break 10 launches a year on their platforms? it's not about advancement. it's about maximizing profitability with the minimum possible product layout necessary while also running up "costs" as quickly as possible.  it's why boeing was caught to flatfooted with the starliner. when it was originally vying for the crew contract before spacex got involved they were operating under the assumption that things would go forward the way they always had. deadline misses would be excused, budget misses would be excused and at the end of the day they'd be made whole for the product they eventually put together a decade after they said it'd be done. then spacex bid against them and spiked the pricing and speed curve by not sandbagging for more gibs and forced a version of boeing's product out the door that just wasn't ready. if anything i'm surprised nobody over at spacex has had an "accident" yet.
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