NASA is supporting the privatized space industry, though. Remember that Dragon were/is developed because NASA gave SpaceX a contract for ISS support. Falcon 9 development also got NASA support.
"support" is not the same as a contract. ULA got a $1B a year just for "readiness", SpaceX gets contracts to do actually useful things, at a far lower cost than other contractors or NASA itself.
That's a good point, and you're right that NASA's budget will trickle down as support to privatized space companies.
As progress in the industry moves forward, though, I expect we may find other forms of government support, such as what we see in many countries' policies towards renewable energy.
I'm merely pointing out that the government's support of the space industry shouldn't be characterized by NASA's budget.
There are a lot of ways for the government to support an industry otherwise; an example being many countries' policy on renewable energy and clean transport, for instance.
I don't think anyone responding to you can figure out what you mean. The US government already has a successful model of interacting with the commercial space industry. You're proposing abandoning that for... ?
This article is about government support of the space industry, and the parent comment stated "I'll believe it when NASA's budget is raised."
My point is that the government can support the space industry in many ways, some of which won't involve more funding for NASA. As an example, governments have 'supported' renewable energy through policy without needing to do so through a NASA-like equivalent in the renewable energy sector.
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I wouldn't characterize America's space industry by NASA's budget anymore.
What about support of the privatized space industry, instead? It seems to be progressing faster than NASA did.
NASA is supporting the privatized space industry, though. Remember that Dragon were/is developed because NASA gave SpaceX a contract for ISS support. Falcon 9 development also got NASA support.
"support" is not the same as a contract. ULA got a $1B a year just for "readiness", SpaceX gets contracts to do actually useful things, at a far lower cost than other contractors or NASA itself.
That's a good point, and you're right that NASA's budget will trickle down as support to privatized space companies.
As progress in the industry moves forward, though, I expect we may find other forms of government support, such as what we see in many countries' policies towards renewable energy.
There is no "trickle down" for what NASA is doing with SpaceX and OrbitalATK: It's an outright contract to deliver stuff to the ISS.
I meant that the government funding trickles down to SpaceX and OrbitalATK through NASA's contract.
That's not what those words usually mean when applied to money, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickle-down_economics
I don't understand what point you're trying to make?
Right now we have much more advanced tech than was available during the space race, and a lot of the pioneering work has already been done.
Comparing NASA from the 60's - 70's to current space companies is not useful.
We're currently depending on Soviet rockets to get us into orbit, so the state of US space travel is a little shaky right now
We don't depend on the Russians for cargo, and 2 US systems for launching people to the ISS are getting close to the finish line.
I'm merely pointing out that the government's support of the space industry shouldn't be characterized by NASA's budget.
There are a lot of ways for the government to support an industry otherwise; an example being many countries' policy on renewable energy and clean transport, for instance.
I don't think anyone responding to you can figure out what you mean. The US government already has a successful model of interacting with the commercial space industry. You're proposing abandoning that for... ?
Sorry I wasn't more clear.
This article is about government support of the space industry, and the parent comment stated "I'll believe it when NASA's budget is raised."
My point is that the government can support the space industry in many ways, some of which won't involve more funding for NASA. As an example, governments have 'supported' renewable energy through policy without needing to do so through a NASA-like equivalent in the renewable energy sector.
The US government already supports the space industry in many ways, including ways that have nothing to do with NASA's budget. You're proposing? ...
Exactly. I'm saying that NASA's budget is an outdated metric to determine the American government's support of the space industry.
I'm not proposing anything else.