Comment Comment by cstross I notice that the news media are bigging up the *private enterprise* angle for some reason -- marketing of commercial transport services maybe?But I also note that Odysseus cost NASA a little over $100M on a fixed price contract, per Ars Technica.By way of comparison, the Indian government's Chandrayaan-3 mission, the lander of which touched down in 2023, cost roughly $90M.So private space isn't automatically cheaper than 100% government agency-run missions: it just depends on the agency. parent cstross 2 years ago
But I also note that Odysseus cost NASA a little over $100M on a fixed price contract, per Ars Technica.
By way of comparison, the Indian government's Chandrayaan-3 mission, the lander of which touched down in 2023, cost roughly $90M.
So private space isn't automatically cheaper than 100% government agency-run missions: it just depends on the agency.