I think Musk will go after SLS, the only in-house launch platform NASA has left.
Once that’s been axed, NASA will have no choice but to rely on SpaceX’s Starship launch vehicle for it’s prestige missions, include the Artemis Program which is supposed to put Americans back on the moon and establish some permanent infrastructure in lunar orbit before the end of the decade. Those contracts probably won’t be as lucrative as routine satellite launches and whatnot, but that doesn’t mean Musk won’t try to hoard them — if nothing else, landing people on the Moon will still spike his stock price.
You might be correct there, though I don’t know if he needs to do much about SLS. It’s a 1970s rocket that’s already blown through multiple budgetary lines. It’s like investing in a car design from the 1970s but paying inflated 2070s prices for it. He might not do much to help it, but SLS has long been turning into an embarrassment for NASA – it’s been mismanaged, huge budgetary overruns, and constant delays.
Ironically, the goal is to eventually turn over SLS production and launch operations to a private venture anyway. After SX got more involved with NASA operations, the bloated and inferior SLS program looks even worse. Maybe he tries to have that private venture deal be SpaceX contract instead of Northrup Grumman and Boeing, but that returns us to the “why?” question.
By the time NASA is ready to hand it off to private hands, it’s going up be so far behind where SX is at that I doubt they’d want to touch that program with a ten-foot pole. If he’s going to do anything, he’ll probably just try to have SX be the primary contractor for that mission rather than SLS under the guise of efficiency, superior technology, and cost savings. And he’ll be right.
I think Musk will go after SLS, the only in-house launch platform NASA has left.
Once that’s been axed, NASA will have no choice but to rely on SpaceX’s Starship launch vehicle for it’s prestige missions, include the Artemis Program which is supposed to put Americans back on the moon and establish some permanent infrastructure in lunar orbit before the end of the decade. Those contracts probably won’t be as lucrative as routine satellite launches and whatnot, but that doesn’t mean Musk won’t try to hoard them — if nothing else, landing people on the Moon will still spike his stock price.
You might be correct there, though I don’t know if he needs to do much about SLS. It’s a 1970s rocket that’s already blown through multiple budgetary lines. It’s like investing in a car design from the 1970s but paying inflated 2070s prices for it. He might not do much to help it, but SLS has long been turning into an embarrassment for NASA – it’s been mismanaged, huge budgetary overruns, and constant delays.
Ironically, the goal is to eventually turn over SLS production and launch operations to a private venture anyway. After SX got more involved with NASA operations, the bloated and inferior SLS program looks even worse. Maybe he tries to have that private venture deal be SpaceX contract instead of Northrup Grumman and Boeing, but that returns us to the “why?” question.
By the time NASA is ready to hand it off to private hands, it’s going up be so far behind where SX is at that I doubt they’d want to touch that program with a ten-foot pole. If he’s going to do anything, he’ll probably just try to have SX be the primary contractor for that mission rather than SLS under the guise of efficiency, superior technology, and cost savings. And he’ll be right.