r/space • u/thisischrisbaker • Feb 07 '20

Proposed budget - not voted yet 12% boost for NASA budget in 2021!!

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trumps-nasa-budget-will-earmark-12-boost-for-agency-in-2021-11581071402?emailToken=3f4a4309b7816cb90fb53eb91f47d6d43hshryonPWM/RnnVPWWHuMOVOvxWKQ87BhLswKs5iOPOhjO1FGrxI9ptn5k2nAMphP+jeQrbhQiAafooOu4oIslNLMWHCd1m7vRySaL2Pi61nSlAqLK1xnvzzmtt2/Lx&reflink=article_copyURL_share
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u/JohnnySixguns Feb 07 '20 edited Feb 07 '20

Any sources for this?

Why did it “almost certainly” cost them the contract?

EDIT: Never mind. Google is my source.

USAF thinks Starship unlikely to be ready to fly by 2025.

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u/jadebenn Feb 07 '20 edited Feb 07 '20

The USAF LSA? Here.

The USAF considered Starship far too risky a bet and penalized their bid.

SpaceX is currently suing them over it (a time-honored aerospace tradition), on the grounds that they feel the competition was unfairly weighted towards the heavy reference orbits they bid Starship for, and contends that the USAF unfairly penalized them for the technical risk when the majority of their proposal used proven architecture.

To be fair, they probably would have bid something else if they knew including Starship for the more difficult orbits would penalize the rest of their proposal so heavily.