Listening to the latest Airplane Geeks podcast yesterday I learned that SpaceX's single biggest customer is the Iridium company. So at least in that instance they're getting a lot of private money. BTW, they also said that the current constellation of Iridium satellites is reaching the end of the road and over the next couple of years all of the current Iridium satellites will be replaced by 2nd generation satellites. Once that's accomplished all of the old ones will be deorbited. Unfortunately for those of us who like Iridium flares, the 2nd generation Iridium's will not have the reflective panels that create the flares. patrick On 16 Aug 2013, at 16:45, Chuck Hards wrote:
All NASA manned spacecraft were designed and built by private companies on government money. The government was paying contractors then, and they are still doing it now.
Commercial contracts will grow as time goes on, eventually surpassing the revenue from government contracts. I'm actually surprised at the private venture advancements of the past ten years. They tend to stretch a dollar much further than governmental agencies.
On Fri, Aug 16, 2013 at 4:33 PM, Joe Bauman <josephmbauman@yahoo.com> wrote:
I remain skeptical that any privately-funded venture can do much of significance in space, and if Space-X relies on government funding than it's just another agency reinventing the rocket. -- Joe