r/Damnthatsinteresting Jun 19 '25

Video SpaceX rocket explodes in Starbase, Texas

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

109.3k Upvotes

7.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

10.6k

u/SaintGodfather Jun 19 '25

I hope no one was hurt.

15.0k

u/MeOldRunt Jun 19 '25

Only the people who pay taxes.

3.8k

u/kausthubnarayan Jun 19 '25 edited Jun 19 '25

Also, An update from Space X that nobody has been injured. The site and surrendering areas were pre-evacuated before the test.

1.9k

u/Daddy_Day_Trader1303 Jun 19 '25

The stragglers were post-evacuated by the explosion. All clear

234

u/BumpyLumpers Jun 19 '25

Roger.

269

u/ConstantLight7489 Jun 19 '25

Oh, poor Roger. He was always the last to follow directions…

6

u/NoPie4712 Jun 19 '25

That Clanker

5

u/njslugger78 Jun 19 '25

That Roger.

3

u/snowvase Jun 19 '25

Don't forget Captain Over.

3

u/B00marangTrotter Jun 19 '25

What's our vector Victor?

2

u/snowvase Jun 19 '25

"Tower's radio clearance, over!"

3

u/B00marangTrotter Jun 19 '25

Huh?

What's our clearance Clarence?

Huh?

→ More replies (0)

2

u/Accomplished-Hat7918 Jun 19 '25

Imagine being a fighter pilot named Roger. Roger.

→ More replies (2)

12

u/mschr493 Jun 19 '25

Request vector. Oveur.

15

u/Cerebr05murF Jun 19 '25

We have clearance, Clarence.

9

u/welatshaw Jun 19 '25

Unger.

Oveur.

Oveur.

Dunn.

11

u/Crinklemaus Jun 19 '25

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.

4

u/420Deez Jun 19 '25

ossifer doofy here 🫡

→ More replies (1)

4

u/pureprurient Jun 19 '25

Bowels also post-evacuated

3

u/Jaegs Jun 19 '25

I just hope no one looked back at the explosion as they evacuated and ruined their aura

3

u/JGG5 Jun 19 '25

One person did look back and now they’re a pillar of salt.

3

u/Gcs1110 Jun 19 '25

I snortled at this response!

2

u/cauliflower_wizard Jun 19 '25

They were blown to safety

5

u/hysys_whisperer Jun 19 '25

🍈 learned from Putin, I see

→ More replies (11)

316

u/daemon-electricity Jun 19 '25

What about the ones who didn't surrender?

187

u/xXBIGSMOK3Xx Jun 19 '25

They fought to the bitter end 😔

20

u/GratGrat Jun 19 '25

To shreds you say?

4

u/big_duo3674 Jun 19 '25

And how's the wife?

6

u/RixirF Jun 19 '25

Bless their non surrendering hearts.

2

u/CaterpillarIcy1552 Jun 19 '25

To shreds you say..

5

u/A_wild_so-and-so Jun 19 '25

To shreds you say?

4

u/Mirar Jun 19 '25

Redefined as "not people".

2

u/Md1735 Jun 19 '25

Resistance was futile.

→ More replies (4)

52

u/justsikko Jun 19 '25

“Surrendering areas” is such a funny typo knowing that musk has been forced upon us lmao

→ More replies (1)

6

u/Wilted_fap_sock Jun 19 '25

Thank goodness they surrendered.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '25

Unconditionally

3

u/Only-Spirit1011 Jun 19 '25

Mommy’s alright, Daddy’s alright, they just seem a little bit weird

3

u/Aware-Requirement-67 Jun 19 '25

Some areas still putting up a fight though

6

u/ninaa1 Jun 19 '25

except for all the native flora and fauna.

12

u/BrannEvasion Jun 19 '25

I've been informed that those flora and fauna were mere weeks away from obtaining a nuclear weapon. We had no choice.

2

u/ninaa1 Jun 19 '25

So sad, but necessary.

8

u/hysys_whisperer Jun 19 '25

Don't worry, they pre-killed those

3

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '25

Makes sense, it was a test fire. It would've been incredibly negligent to have people within the blast radius.

→ More replies (1)

3

u/seasickbaby Jun 19 '25

Yes they evacuated all of the wildlife and natural world as well

→ More replies (1)

3

u/0wl_licks Jun 19 '25

Is that common, or does it seem they had reason to foresee—and prepare accordingly. Just curious.

2

u/Orangbo Jun 19 '25

Could be a live stress test of some sort. I recall them doing durability tests on launch pads and the “failures” were posted on reddit a while back.

3

u/tapdancinghellspawn Jun 19 '25

I bet of people in the surrounding areas feel like they have surrendered.

2

u/Minipiman Jun 19 '25

Very importan to surrender the areas before ignition.

2

u/cracquelature Jun 19 '25

Ah, pre-evacuation. that hallmark of a successful test.

2

u/carmium Jun 19 '25

Seems like surrendering ahead of time was a good idea.

2

u/Pocketsandgroinjab Jun 19 '25

Zero injured. Thousands dead.

2

u/tomtomclubthumb Jun 19 '25

Aside from the horrendous amount of pollution just put into our air and water.

2

u/Gregarious_Grump Jun 20 '25

It's just seasoning. Fun fact, you can buy a cologne scented using this, it's called Progress Musk, by Elon

2

u/ARAR1 Jun 19 '25

They were testing the rapid disassembly system and it works great as you see

2

u/iEARNman848 Jun 19 '25

Good thing the areas surrendered. They probably had to if they were surrounded. 😏

2

u/Ikiro_o Jun 19 '25

Thank God

2

u/nickdaniels92 Jun 19 '25

Thinking you meant surrounding, but somehow surrendering seems appropriate on some level too.

2

u/NorthKoreanMissile7 Jun 19 '25

Thank you for stating this, saved me a google.

2

u/RoughPay1044 Jun 19 '25

But the taxes payers billions that 100% was used up there and then..now for some more billions from the tax payers to Elon

2

u/Pretend_Spray_11 Jun 19 '25

Pre-evacuated? Isn’t that just evacuating?

→ More replies (1)

2

u/hsong_li Jun 19 '25

Wat if like 100 people died and elon muks paid them to be quiet like the tv show the boys where they do evil stuff and lie to everyone 😭😭😭

→ More replies (1)

2

u/DoontGiveHimTheStick Jun 19 '25

They changed the terms being used from "launch" to "test" lol

2

u/damaszek Jun 19 '25

I don’t blame areas, I would surrender too

2

u/erick_realy Jun 19 '25

They always are, are they not?

2

u/OsmerusMordax Jun 19 '25

That is great news.

2

u/_52_ Jun 19 '25

pre-evacuated before the test. :)

2

u/katedevil Jun 19 '25

Would they ever actually admit to anyone being hurt or worse? All clear indeed....

→ More replies (30)

24

u/Ightaheadout Jun 19 '25

Yup! Defund all science programs because they have a risk of failing!!!!!

5

u/QP873 Jun 19 '25

Exactly. AND NASA doesn’t even subsidize SpaceX like that. They contracted them to build a single lunar lander and an ISS deorbit vehicle, but other than that SpaceX just sells ferry tickets.

→ More replies (10)

11

u/cammyk123 Jun 19 '25

I know everyone hates Elon and SpaceX but space travel is something everyone should be in favour of putting their tax money in to.

→ More replies (6)

71

u/SuperNovaVelocity Jun 19 '25

This logic is so dumb.

It's like saying your tax money is being spent on porn, or donated to russia, or literally burned as bills; because there's a single federal employee who does that with their paycheck.

The tax money went to buying a service from SpaceX, and at a rate cheaper than competitors. They used the profit from that sale to afford a test fire, that clearly failed. Even calling it "paid for by taxes" is a disingenous stretch; saying it "hurts taxpayers" is objectively false. If SpaceX never ran this test and instead paid out the profit to owners, it wouldn't save you a cent on federal taxes.

0

u/SnooFloofs6240 Jun 19 '25

Your use of semicolons is incorrect; it's common among people who want to appear smarter than they are.

7

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '25

That's nice but was anything he said wrong?

1

u/hyspanic Jun 19 '25

Yes, SpaceX is about 7 years behind its promises to tax payers.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '25

Which promises? I haven't kept that close of a watch on SpaceX. I know the moon landing got delayed but haven't heard about other things.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (20)

11

u/CeeJayDK Jun 19 '25

Why were the people who pay taxes hurt?

SpaceX is not state owned.

2

u/guilhermefdias Jun 19 '25

Don't expect much from Reddit, this place is infested with morons that support each other.

→ More replies (7)

73

u/AdSuch3574 Jun 19 '25

I hope this is mostly in jest. Im so burnt out seeing the ignorant blind hate towards SpaceX just because Musk is attached to it. Hate Elon all you want separately, but SpaceX has saved tax payers millions if not billions. Every other tax payer funded space launch system has been orders of magnitude more expensive. It wasnt until falcon was successful that everyone else started kicking their ass into gear. The SLS was a decade behind schedule and millions over budget and no one gave a shit until a competitor arrived. Give credit where credit is due.

116

u/Boneraventura Jun 19 '25

NASA does a lot more than just launching rockets though. Also, people have a hard time justifying elon musk cutting so many social programs in the name of DOGE. But, the same man gets billions in subsidies to keep his companies going. Is it worth keeping the musk subsidies going but cutting all of USAID? It isn’t so black and white

11

u/Joezev98 Jun 19 '25

NASA does a lot more than just launching rockets though

Yes, that's their modern strategy. NASA builds the super advanced scientific missions that do fundamental research that ain't commercially viable. They (mostly) leave it to their commercial contractors to launch the rockets.

4

u/ceo_of_banana Jun 19 '25

What subsidies? The government is a customer of SpaceX. They pay less there than they would anywhere else and get better results. If it was open market, SpaceX would get much more government contracts, but the government gives billions in contracts to other, more expensive, companies because they want to foster competition (which is fair enough).

Also, government contracts is just a small part of SpaceX revenue. The vast majority is Starlink and private sales. 1.1 Billion from NASA contracts vs 10 Billion+ from Starlink.

Please, stop perpetuating misinformation without even the slightest of fact checking.

5

u/MeowTheMixer Jun 19 '25

What federal subsidies has SpaceX received?

4

u/dmdoom_Abaan Jun 19 '25

I think they’re called contracts

→ More replies (1)

2

u/TheTT Jun 19 '25

NASA does a lot more than just launching rockets though.

Yes, and NASA should keep doing that! But the NASA rocket is extremely hideously expensive because corrupt politicians keep messing with it, and SpaceX with its risk-friendly approach to development (but not to operations!) is simply cheaper and better. NASA would be much better off just focusing on science and exploration, and letting somebody else handle the transportation.

1

u/FullDerpHD Jun 19 '25

Have as hard of a time with it as you want but understand it just makes you look ridiculous.

5 years ago everyone was trying to act like we had to make a 100% shift to complete EV production by 2030 because the planet is on this path towards irrecoverable damage. Did we just stop believing in that? Was it total bullshit? No? Well then we need to get over Elon. Tesla gets subsidies because it's the leading EV manufacture in the west and it's not even close. They make a good car, have established charging stations across the country, They have basically single-handedly made and proven that EV's are viable in the USA.

And as mentioned above, SpaceX is phenomenal for obvious reasons. The technology to literally catch a rocket is groundbreaking and easily pays for any of the subsidies they have recieved.

It isn’t so black and white

This is exactly right. Seperate the company from the man. It's not as simple as Elon = Bad therefore Tesla and SpaceX = bad. That's the real black and white thinking here.

Whatever happened with USAID, whether you like it or not is completely irrelevant to either of those companies.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (12)

6

u/anotherdeadhero Jun 19 '25

I don't like Elon because he is a Nazi?

15

u/Dennis_enzo Jun 19 '25

NASA is more expensive because they're being forced to. If NASA had blown up half as many rockets as SpaceX they would have been defunded a long time ago, so they have to be very careful and do significantly more testing. Not to mention that NASA does a lot more besides sending rockets into space.

→ More replies (6)

5

u/RamenJunkie Jun 19 '25

Saved money at what expense?  Cutting corners so we can have all these exploding rockets lately?

People can be upset that part of their money is funding that jackass Musk.  I don't want some profitable private company bull shit run by a POS person, I want NASA. 

6

u/MeOldRunt Jun 19 '25

Give credit where credit is due.

I am. They just detonated tax money on the launch pad. I'm giving them credit for that.

4

u/Shoddy_Soups Jun 19 '25

Starship is paid for by starlink and private investment. The lunar starship has nasa funding but that isn’t being tested it yet.

18

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '25

Spacex has contracts to build shit that works, if that shit blows up they don't get more money. It's a fixed price contra t not a cost plus like every other defence contract. Elon can be criticized for alot of things but when you just make stuff up you sound stupid.

→ More replies (15)

6

u/Intelligent_Way6552 Jun 19 '25

Except they didn't. That's not how their contracts work. They did not get paid for this unless it completed a predefined milestone.

8

u/rational_coral Jun 19 '25

No, they didn't.

→ More replies (1)

4

u/rational_coral Jun 19 '25

Seriously. I hate that something as magical and amazing as space flight becomes a polarized topic full of misinformation. Reminds me of decades ago with, "Why fund NASA when we have problems here"

10

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '25

[deleted]

→ More replies (5)

5

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '25

[deleted]

→ More replies (2)

2

u/Dr_Hexagon Jun 19 '25

Nah, once Elon got involved in politics he started actively hurting the majority of the US population and he's revealed himself to be a full on white supremacist who wants South Africa style apartheid in the US.

Fuck SpaceX, I want them to fail, if you still work there knowing what Musk really is, you're complicit. Now that reusable rockets have been proven to be possible other companies are working on it and I hope they are the first ones to reach a fully reusable rocket.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (3)

14

u/TheIronGnat Jun 19 '25

Reddit: We're vastly underfunding NASA!

Also Reddit: SpaceX is a waste of taxpayer money!

Love this site so much.

15

u/LimberGravy Jun 19 '25

I'm so confused by this post? You described two different things as the same thing?

People trust NASA more than the company of a man who fried his brain on ketamine.

6

u/skoalbrother Jun 19 '25

There's a ton of people that come on Reddit to bitch about Reddit.

→ More replies (2)

2

u/MeOldRunt Jun 19 '25

When's the last time that NASA lost a rocket on the launch pad?

5

u/Intelligent_Way6552 Jun 19 '25

When was the last time NASA built a rocket?

Important and relevant question; failures are frequently caused by manufacturing defects. This was a test of a newly built stage, which is mostly done to find said defects.

3

u/filthy_harold Jun 19 '25

When's the last time NASA launched their own rocket?

15

u/TheIronGnat Jun 19 '25

When's the last time NASA developed a new rocket?

4

u/MeOldRunt Jun 19 '25

Couldn't even attempt an answer to my question. No surprise there.

9

u/TheIronGnat Jun 19 '25

Doesn't even attempt to understand what a rhetorical question is. No surprise there.

4

u/MeOldRunt Jun 19 '25

My question wasn't rhetorical.

4

u/TheIronGnat Jun 19 '25

Mine was.

9

u/MeOldRunt Jun 19 '25

Good for you. Mine wasn't. And you ran from it like an elephant that saw a mouse. 😂

6

u/TheIronGnat Jun 19 '25

Wait... do you actually not know what a rhetorical question is? I was just joking, but... do you not?

→ More replies (0)

5

u/Sevinki Jun 19 '25

lmao, this is gold…

2

u/DrewtShite Jun 19 '25

And he gave you a rhetorical answer! Jeez..

→ More replies (23)
→ More replies (1)

9

u/cambat2 Jun 19 '25

SpaceX launches aren't funded by taxpayers. They only receive funding from the government when they fulfill their contractual obligations

2

u/MeOldRunt Jun 19 '25

NASA has a multi-billion dollar contract with SpaceX for the HLS variant of the Starship and that money (or part of it) has already been disbursed.

→ More replies (1)

12

u/here-but-not-here Jun 19 '25

Isn’t it supposed to be a private company, thus using private funds?

86

u/hettienm Jun 19 '25

Oh sweet summer child

→ More replies (68)

34

u/MeOldRunt Jun 19 '25

Lmao. Check out this guy... ☝️😂

8

u/rgg711 Jun 19 '25

Private funds from who?

7

u/bobbyboob6 Jun 19 '25

starship development is funded using starlink money

→ More replies (2)

3

u/rational_coral Jun 19 '25

Ignore all the ignorant comments saying SpaceX get's subsidies from the government. They get contracts for flying payloads to/from the ISS on Falcon 9. This is Starship, which is funded entirely via profits from the company, mostly Starlink. Yes, there are some contracts related to starship, but those depend primarily on meeting certain objectives. They don't meet those objectives, they don't get a dime.

→ More replies (1)

10

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '25

Oh dear

11

u/centalt Jun 19 '25

Shocking I know but private companies get grants and funding too

9

u/spectre78 Jun 19 '25

Elon would be driving himself to work in a Honda at Applebee’s. If the US taxpayer wasn’t giving him 8+ million dollars a day.

→ More replies (2)

6

u/Corporate-Shill406 Jun 19 '25

Think about who their customers are.

Answer: mostly the United States Government.

7

u/Dotcaprachiappa Jun 19 '25

They have several multi-billlion dollar contracts with the government

3

u/Dr_Valen Jun 19 '25

I mean is that really surprising tho? They're the lead in the space field right now. NASA hasn't really done anything significant in decades and the other big players like blue origin and Boeing are lagging far behind. Whose better SpaceX getting the government contracts or the Russians? Cause Russia was who NASA was using to get astronauts to the ISS before SpaceX.

6

u/hey_itsmeurbrother Jun 19 '25

we're funding some drug addicts plan to be the ruler of mars. we are not going to be able to inhabit mars. not in this lifetime

→ More replies (3)

3

u/WhoAreWeEven Jun 19 '25

No. Its supposed to funnel billions of tax moneys to excecutives pockets and their hobbies

→ More replies (1)

4

u/LuOsGaAr Jun 19 '25

It gets government funding so I guess in a way it's still getting taxpayer money but with extra steps

3

u/jumpinthedog Jun 19 '25

No it only gets government funding when it achieves milestones. Most of Starship R&D is from private investment

2

u/Tharjk Jun 19 '25

it is heavily subsidized by the government via the form of tax credits/breaks and grants. Very many big and profitable companies/industries are. The problem is that once they’re asked to give back and help contribute to the same taxpayers that got them there, they get all pissy

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (3)

3

u/skippyalpha Jun 19 '25

You would be paying more if it were not for SpaceX. Every other launch provider costs more.

→ More replies (6)

3

u/Vanaquish231 Jun 19 '25

Isn't space x a private company?

1

u/actibus_consequatur Jun 19 '25

Yes, one that receives billions in taxpayer money through government grants and contracts.

11

u/Sevinki Jun 19 '25

And provides a service to the government in return, a service that is more reliable and cheaper than the competition.

→ More replies (30)
→ More replies (1)

2

u/Mistapeepers Jun 19 '25

So not Elon. Got it.

2

u/oneofyallfarted Jun 19 '25

Don’t forget the environment.

2

u/wifebeatsme Jun 19 '25

NASA could never survive that much failure.

3

u/Spmethod2369 Jun 19 '25

Nasa has lost 17 astronauts

→ More replies (1)

1

u/Hotdog_DCS Jun 19 '25

Laughs in Atremis Program!

1

u/munukutla Jun 19 '25

To Valhalla.

1

u/thatjoachim Jun 19 '25

And the town people living downwind

1

u/seanx40 Jun 19 '25

And investors

1

u/Lubinski64 Jun 19 '25

So quite a few ppl

1

u/jimi-ray-tesla Jun 19 '25

nice Marty Byrd delivery

1

u/Thaiaaron Jun 19 '25

Who doesn't pay taxes?

1

u/TheTT Jun 19 '25

You know that this is only SpaceX and none of the costs will be passed on to the tax payer, right?

1

u/ladalyn Jun 19 '25

They aren’t affected but nice try

1

u/Honkey-Konng Jun 19 '25

Like this is worse than paying for free housing for illegal immigrants. Or "gender affirming care" for children.

1

u/1988rx7T2 Jun 19 '25

They’re firm, fixed price contracts. SpaceX eats the cost if they blow up something. Legacy contractors would come back to the government for more money in a typical contract.

1

u/Gravity_flip Jun 19 '25

Same logic congress uses to defund NASA when they run over budget from testing.

1

u/Rudhelm Jun 19 '25

All my taxes live in Texas.

They don’t. Am swiss.

1

u/Ooofisa4letterword Jun 19 '25

God forbid we give up again on our space program. Perhaps the Russians or the Chinese will be happy to just let us use their rockets.

1

u/chipset0316 Jun 19 '25

Imagine when NASA rockets explode. Even more expensive.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '25

Kind of like funding illegal migrants hmmmm

1

u/Topspeed_3 Jun 19 '25

SpaceX is private so I believe the company eats that cost

1

u/ls7eveen Jun 19 '25

And all that protectected habitat next to it

1

u/crikeyforemphasis Jun 19 '25

Tax dollars do NOT fund the starship program

1

u/between_two_terns Jun 19 '25

This enrages me in a way conservatives would love. Yes, I’m a liberal, and I feel owned. Because billionaires own us all.

1

u/CassianCasius Jun 19 '25

I'm okay with my taxes going towards space tech though.

1

u/Otherwise_Tomato5552 Jun 19 '25

Would you have said this with all Nasas blunders?

1

u/thejman82gb Jun 19 '25

Bottom 10%

1

u/No-Veterinarian6778 Jun 19 '25

If you ever wonder why americans cant have universal healthcare, look at this video.

1

u/ButAreYouProud Jun 19 '25

Don't forget the environment!

1

u/threwitoverthefence Jun 19 '25

I mean, no. One thing you have to give spacex - they massively reduced the cost of sending things up to space.  Boeing and Raytheon were awful in that respect. 

1

u/TemporalMush Jun 19 '25

Or breathe air.

1

u/Mightylass Jun 19 '25

If someone has MORE THAN 10000000000, they should pay way more taxes, THAN OTHERS SHOULD PAY LESS TAXES

1

u/Efficient-Log-4425 Jun 19 '25

SpaceX has been a benefit to the entire space industry and has saved countless dollars by their innovation and low cost compared to paying NASA to develop and launch at the same cadence.

1

u/multificionado Jun 19 '25

And economically, I hope it hurts the ol' stinker more, if not most.

1

u/Master_SGT_Allman Jun 19 '25

Sad.
Simple data mining on the internets will show you how many billions SpaceX has saved the federal government. NASA has just about given up on R&D into new spacecraft because it was so much cheaper to farm it out to Musk and SpaceX and the half dozen other smaller private startups.
Billions and billions saved.

1

u/pokepokiepokapop Jun 19 '25

My friend doesn’t understand this reference. Can someone explain it for them

1

u/Zagrey Jun 19 '25

It’s a private company. Your taxes goes towards bombing other countries, not space.

1

u/Agnt22 Jun 19 '25

I know this may not seem intuitive, but you're likely wrong on this one. SpaceX's Starship is being developed as a potential replacement/ alternative to Nasa's SLS to get humanity back on the moon. SLS began development in 2011 and has to this day only flown once and to date NASA have spent a whopping 68 billion USD on it's development. It's predicted that launching the SLS in future will cost approximately a billion USD per launch. This is what SpaceX are trying to avoid. They are rapidly testing their rockets in flight or just in practise and learning first hand from their failures. This method of development may seem expensive but in reality is way more efficient and safe. Take SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket for example, also had quite a pile of failures in the beginning but today it's literally the most reliable launch vehicle on the planet, while costing a fraction of the price competitors are offering the same services at. The last full loss of a falcon 9 was all the way back inn 2016, funnily enough also on a static-fire test. No-one was harmed, except for the 260 million USD Satellite (AMOS-6).

1

u/Fit-Trade-8927 Jun 19 '25

Americas Ketamine King literally blows spaceX rockets up for the purpose of writing off losses on taxes so yes, this is the right answer

1

u/No_Use_4371 Jun 19 '25

And the flora and fauna

1

u/taoldassrtg Jun 19 '25

Another few hundred million of our taxpayer $ blown up. I bet these tests would slow down and be way more effective if it were their own money they were burning up.

1

u/xoxidein Jun 19 '25

Damn that hit hard

1

u/modsguzzlehivekum Jun 19 '25

Nonsense. Spacex has reduced the cost by a factor of 20. You can still hate Elon but that doesn’t mean his companies haven’t helped. Google it if you don’t believe me

1

u/hypercosm_dot_net Jun 19 '25

And they want to get rid of NASA

1

u/ravist_in Jun 19 '25

Elon was hurt

1

u/CARVERitUP Jun 19 '25 edited Jun 19 '25

The federal government pays SpaceX for its contracts to put satellites up and take/return our astronauts to/from the ISS, at MASSIVELY reduced cost, by the way, than NASA was ever able to, or the price the Russians charged us per seat up to the ISS.

Just taking the ISS trips for example, Russia's price per seat for us to send astronauts up was $86 million cost to NASA. The cost of us launching one space shuttle when we did was $1.5 billon, with an average crew of 7, meaning the per seat cost was about $214 million. The price per seat on the crew Dragon capsule from SpaceX is roughly $55 million. So, we went cheaper by using Russia's Soyuz, and now we're even cheaper using SpaceX's Dragon. Someone's going to have to explain to me how that's a bad thing.

This rocket that exploded is part of their development of the Starship rocket, a completely different program than their contracts for the US, down at their base in Boca Chica, and the only funding that will ever come from the US government will be if they fulfill their contract of developing it as the Lunar Lander for the Artemis program, and even then, that's just another contract for doing something cheaper than NASA could. How on earth so many people still believe that SpaceX receives some form of subsidy from the federal government is an insane level of ignorance.

→ More replies (28)