SpaceX vs. NASA: Who Does Space Better?
When it comes to space travel, the two names that hit the news frequently are NASA and
SpaceX.
In the last two decades, startup space companies have proven that they can compete with and,
in some cases outperform, government agencies.
There is no better example of this than the relationship between NASA and SpaceX.
Has SpaceX been able to dethrone NASA as one of the leaders in space travel?
Today, we will be taking a deeper look between these two organizations.
To begin, let us start with one of the founding fathers of space travel, NASA.
NASA is a government agency in the United States that is funded by taxpayers and has
more than a dozen locations across the country.
From being the first agency to take people to the moon to creating the first U.S. satellite,
most space achievements that took place in the U.S. during the early days were accomplished
by NASA.
NASA’s budget is set through a political process, with nearly half of it going to the
human spaceflight program.
For much of the public, the most visible of these programs is the International Space
Station, a multinational space laboratory that is permanently crewed in low-Earth orbit.
NASA's Artemis program is also working to send astronauts to the Moon and Mars.
Another third of NASA's budget goes to its science division, which includes Earth science,
astrophysics, planetary science, and heliophysics.
NASA sends out spacecraft to investigate and explore planets and other worlds.
Now that we have covered NASA, let’s see what SpaceX is all about.
Elon Musk founded the private space company SpaceX in 2002 with an aim of making humanity
a multi-planetary species.
Musk has done incredibly well for himself.
He and his crew have been able to transform SpaceX from nothing to something.
Well, when I say nothing, it doesn’t literally mean that he started without any money.
Before Musk launched SpaceX, he had other companies.
One of them is PayPal, an online payment service provider that he sold for 1.5 billion dollars
and used the proceeds to launch SpaceX.
With SpaceX, Musk’s goal is to create reusable launch technology to reduce the cost of traveling
to space and, by extension, colonize Mars.
The Hawthorne, California-based company lands its recycled rocket boosters to create scenes
straight out of science fiction.
The company’s most popular rockets are Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy.
The booster stages of these rockets usually return to Earth for refurbishment, allowing
the company to save money and undercut competitors’ prices.
SpaceX is also working on developing Starship, a gigantic rocket and spacecraft system that
will be capable of carrying massive payloads into orbit.
According to Elon, Starship may eventually ferry people to Mars for permanent habitation.
However, SpaceX's early launches were far less impressive than its present-day Falcon
Heavy and Starship launches.
One pandemic and two administrations ago in 2008, Falcon 1 became the first-ever liquid-fueled
and privately manufactured launch vehicle to make it to orbit.
It was powered by the Merlin engine in the first stage rocket and a Kestrel engine in
the second stage.
Of course, this came only after a few botched early attempts.
SpaceX had a rocky start in its early days, with several of its spacecraft exploding.
But it was not all smooth sailing for NASA either.
NASA’s early days were just as bumpy, as several prototype rocket vehicles in the 1960s
and beyond exploded before they could complete their mission objectives, just like SpaceX's
prototypes.
The initial months of NASA's Mercury program, which was the first U.S. rocket program to
put people into orbit, were wildly explosive.
You might think that these companies are similar to one another, but in reality, the two organizations
are actually quite different.
SpaceX is a for-profit company that started from scratch, and today is one of the few
startups that smile to the bank.
NASA, on the other hand, is a government-owned and funded organization that is free to explore
scientific breakthroughs that are not directly related to profit.
Though both companies are different, they heavily rely on one another for success.
Without the contributions and investments of NASA, private spaceflight today would look
very different.
NASA began investing in private space businesses in 2006 in the hopes of one day using them
to deliver goods and crew to the ISS.
In 2008, Musk’s experience and vision caught the eyes of prominent organizations like NASA.
NASA was also impressed by SpaceX's track record.
This made the organization award a multi-billion dollar contract to the company for the development
of the Dragon spacecraft used for cargo runs to the ISS.
SpaceX was one of the first businesses to receive money from NASA; the company was just
four years old at the time.
NASA paid for roughly half the cost to construct SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket.
SpaceX was on the verge of bankruptcy and would have likely run out of money without
the help of NASA.
Today, SpaceX earns money from a variety of sources, but its biggest customer is NASA.
A significant portion of its funding comes from flying crew and cargo to the ISS as well
as launching NASA's science spacecraft.
SpaceX also carries payloads for the U.S. Department of Defense, another taxpayer-funded
entity.
With the help of NASA, the company’s main source of income comes from its space launch
services.
It launches both commercial and military satellites for its clients.
Without SpaceX, the only U.S. company currently capable of carrying cargo to the ISS would
be Northrop Grumman, and NASA would still be reliant on the Russian Soyuz for crew transportation.
But it is not all one-sided; SpaceX has also helped NASA significantly.
When the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011, NASA did not have a replacement ready.
Despite having seven years to prepare, the agency never received the proper funding necessary
to finish building the ISS and develop a new human-capable spacecraft and rocket system.
And that's where SpaceX came in.
Anticipating the need for an alternative to sending cargo and crews to the ISS, NASA turned
to the aerospace industry with the Commercial Crew Program.
The program would provide financial assistance so that NASA could step away from operating,
owning, and maintaining spacecraft and instead buy seats on capsules.
It was a win-win situation for both parties.
In 2008, the agency signed contracts with SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corporation to
build and fly their own cargo vehicles to the ISS.
The idea worked; not even a year after the Shuttle program ended, SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft
made the record of the first docking made by a private spacecraft with the ISS.
They also became the first commercial enterprise to send NASA astronauts to the ISS in 2020.
SpaceX became a game-changer for NASA in terms of cost.
So to answer the question, who does space better, well, the answer is both.
SpaceX and NASA are committed to working together on space ventures, with the former awarding
the latter three contracts last year for Starship missions to go to the moon by 2024.
SpaceX is likely to be the long-term winner in terms of profitability; because, as a private
firm backed by government grants and payments from payload companies, it only has to keep
up business as usual to continue launching rockets.
The fund that SpaceX receives from the U.S. government for various projects is helping
the company to position itself as a leader in the space launch industry.
The company also needs the financial and technical support of NASA to fulfill Musk’s dream
of colonizing Mars.
If Musk ever wants to make his dream a reality, he would need all the help he can get from
NASA.
SpaceX has also rekindled the public's enthusiasm for spaceflight.
Each rocket launch and landing is a spectacular event, thanks to the company's use of live
streaming technology.
The interest in SpaceX's efforts, which are often in partnership with NASA, have inspired
and motivated new generations to pursue exciting space careers.
Until SpaceX returns humans to the moon and places the first people on Mars, NASA will
likely remain the preeminent leader in space exploration.
Not only because it has launched missions, but also because, with spacecraft like the
Voyagers 1 and 2 still active in interstellar space and many more since SpaceX simply hasn't
gone as far.
In some ways, exploring the cosmos is our moral obligation.
Space exploration brings out the best in us.
When government agencies like NASA and private companies like SpaceX work together, we are
able to unravel major scientific discoveries, and at the end of the day, we all win.
Who do you think does space better?
Let us know in the comments.