SpaceX's giant rocket may leave NASA in the dust

Tomorrow, SpaceX is planning a test launch of its massive new rocket Starship, which is a huge part of the company's plans for the future according to NPR. NPR reported that Starship is the largest rocket ever built and is a giant stainless steel beast. Elon Musk said he hopes it will one day carry astronauts to Mars. Currently, the job of moving people around in space falls to another, much smaller SpaceX rocket called the Falcon 9, which shuttles astronauts to and from the International Space Station using a capsule called Dragon. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell spoke about moving from older to newer technology at the All-In Summit in September. Gwynne Shotwell said, "A Falcon 9 with a Dragon capsule on top is like a minivan - road trip in a minivan. The road trip to Mars is six months, so you don't want to be in the minivan."

NPR reported that the minivan is currently the only American option for taking astronauts on a short jaunt to the space station. Caleb Henry, who directs research at the industry-tracking firm Quilty Space, stated that because Dragon has been such a successful and reliable vehicle, it became the de facto way for astronauts to get to orbit. Caleb Henry noted that building space capsules is time-consuming and expensive, and NASA is about the only one willing to pay because today there is not a strong commercial market for human space flight. Starship cannot currently carry NASA astronauts, nor does it seem to be a priority according to NPR. SpaceX wants to use Starship first to dramatically expand its internet satellite business Starlink and for possible data centers in space. Tim Farrar, president of the telecom analysis firm TMF Associates, stated that the change in priorities represents a changing business because SpaceX has an enormous amount on its plate. Tim Farrar added that its contracts with NASA have become way less valuable to the company and are small potatoes, although individual missions are likely profitable.

In 2008, NASA funding was widely believed to have saved SpaceX from going bankrupt when the company was running on fumes with virtually no money, as Elon Musk recounted in a 2014 interview on "60 Minutes." Tim Farrar noted that a steady diet of NASA and eventually Pentagon contracts kept the company going for the next decade, leading some to feel that NASA was responsible for SpaceX essentially not going bankrupt and that one might hope for a bit of loyalty. It is still not clear when SpaceX will retire the Falcon 9 rocket, and the company did not respond to NPR's request for comment. NASA has a capsule built by Boeing that they could eventually use instead, but Caleb Henry says it will likely be much more expensive.