NASA Outsourcing Space Station Transport to SpaceX

NASA Outsourcing Space Station Transport to SpaceX

NASA awarded SpaceX a $1.6 billion contract to design, build and operate a resupply program to the International Space Station. Under the contract, SpaceX will fill the gap in American spaceflight to the International Space Station when the Space Shuttle retires in 2010.

So NASA is privatizing the future of space transport in 2010. What do you all think?

Personally, I'm a little surprised, just because NASA has, in the past, frowned upon private space programs. As a side note, I have little faith in Elon Musk. As a former automotive industry analyst, his blundering mistakes handling and operating his Tesla motor company show a carelessness that could be catastrophic in a more delicate industry such as space travel.

reply to post by paradigm619


I'm surprised as well, considering that the first falcon 9 hasn't launched yet. I would at least wait to see them successfully launch the proposed booster first, and since they already have one on the pad it's not like it's going to be a long wait. I want falcon 9 to succeed, but considering all the issues they had with falcon 1, I wouldn't bet a billion dollars on its success just yet. From what I heard about a month ago, if they tried to launch falcon 9 right this minute it would be a very expensive fireball.