My understanding is that certification is the bottle neck, in both time and cost. No one wants to spend the money or time to flight certify something new when something already battle tested will suffice.
But your comment makes me wonder if the private sector doesn't have those certification requirements?
The other differentiating factor is that the private sector is not sending multi-year (indeed multi-decade) deep space missions, where the need for battle tested systems is paramount.
But your comment makes me wonder if the private sector doesn't have those certification requirements?
The other differentiating factor is that the private sector is not sending multi-year (indeed multi-decade) deep space missions, where the need for battle tested systems is paramount.