https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/07/elon-musk-knows-whats-ailing-nasa-costly-contracting/
I have repeatedly pointed out the problem with government doing thing is the lack of competition resulting in major inefficiency. Here's a stunning example of it:
It's amazing how much better things work when people have their own skin in the game.
I have repeatedly pointed out the problem with government doing thing is the lack of competition resulting in major inefficiency. Here's a stunning example of it:
article said:NASA didn’t see it this way. In the months after the Dragon’s historic flight, NASA studied the cost of developing the Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX's booster with nine engines that had lifted the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The analysis concluded that had NASA developed the rocket through its traditional means, it would have cost taxpayers about $4 billion.
Instead of doing that, however, NASA simply asked SpaceX for a service—cargo delivery to the space station—and left the details to the company. And so Musk and his small workforce, with a Silicon Valley mindset that pushed employees hard, set about delivering. The analysis found that SpaceX spent just $443 million to develop the Falcon 9 rocket—a little more than a tenth of what NASA would have expended for a comparable rocket.
It's amazing how much better things work when people have their own skin in the game.