"SpaceX privately developed the Falcon Heavy rocket for about $500 million, and it flew its first flight in February 2018. It has now flown three successful missions. NASA has spent about $14 billion on the SLS rocket and related development costs since 2011. That rocket is not expected to fly before at least mid or late 2021."
Dollar amounts bolded by me because I think this is a great example of the vast difference between private investment versus government spending. SpaceX is trying to achieve goals while the NASA spending of our tax dollars seem more aimed at being a "jobs program" and pork barrel government spending.
Maybe it's time to scrap the Boeing/Lockheed Martin SLS rocket in favor of subcontracting the work to SpaceX.
But then all the NASA facilities that are being maintained by that work go dormant and all the people doing that work are out of work. It is a jobs program and a industrial base maintenance program.
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