cstross ,
@cstross@wandering.shop avatar

It's worth noting that the $6Bn cost overruns on SLS boosters and engines—the overruns ALONE—probably cost more than the entire SpaceX Starship program (for a fully reusable launcher with a much larger payload), currently running at an est. $2-3Bn/year total vs. $25Bn/year for SLS: https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/13/congress-prepares-to-continue-throwing-money-at-nasas-space-launch-system/

dymaxion ,
@dymaxion@infosec.exchange avatar

@cstross
The cost difference is in no small part because NASA's design and its production is optimized to produce the maximum number of votes in Congress, which has absolutely nothing to do with either cost efficiency or design success

slothrop ,
@slothrop@chaos.social avatar

@dymaxion @cstross So you’re saying, design by committee might be bad, but design by a full Congress is even worse?

dymaxion ,
@dymaxion@infosec.exchange avatar

@slothrop
Pretty much.
@cstross

joshrivers ,
@joshrivers@techhub.social avatar

@dymaxion @cstross Very much this. It is not true that private business can produce better products cheaper. It is true that building rockets effectively is better than building rockets with terrible designs as a form of political pork payback. Given that we have a whole party dedicated to “proving” government can’t function, it is pretty clear how these designs get made.

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