My point was that working rockets is not exactly a good explanation for SpaceX's success.
Rocket Lab Electron works
Galactic Energy Ceres-1 works
Virgin Orbit LauncherOne rocket works
Astra Rocket 3.3 works (no relation to OpenAI)
Firefly AerospaceAlpha works
And this is disregarding that of course these are hardly the only kind of organization with working rockets. Did you know a rocket startup with working rockets was forced into bankruptcy for fear it might give Congo access to ballistic rockets?
... What makes the difference for SpaceX is investor money, not engineering excellence. In fact most of the above companies got to orbit on their first try, no blowing up rockets and hundreds of millions of dollars required.
Rocket Lab Electron works
Galactic Energy Ceres-1 works
Virgin Orbit LauncherOne rocket works
Astra Rocket 3.3 works (no relation to OpenAI)
Firefly AerospaceAlpha works
And this is disregarding that of course these are hardly the only kind of organization with working rockets. Did you know a rocket startup with working rockets was forced into bankruptcy for fear it might give Congo access to ballistic rockets?
... What makes the difference for SpaceX is investor money, not engineering excellence. In fact most of the above companies got to orbit on their first try, no blowing up rockets and hundreds of millions of dollars required.