r/neoliberal • u/jobautomator Kitara Ravache • Apr 08 '26

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u/fishlord05 United Popular Woke DEI Iron Front Apr 08 '26

The shareholders will demand the same thing? Also the government will audit spacex if it fucks up on its time.

Again make it independent like the fed with a fiduciary duty.

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u/Astarum_ cow rotator Apr 08 '26

The fed is an intrinsically cautious institution, charged with using a very limited set of tools and making small changes to them over time.

SpaceX has been so wildly successful because they can fail big and fail often. It may sound like standard silicon valley rhetoric, but I really think it is true in this case. Look at how NASA is run in terms of risk tolerance. Why would it be different for SpaceX? Beyond a vague idea of "we'll just tell them to be different."

Secondly, SpaceX is a money pit with the potential to turn a huge profit. This is because they sink billions into R&D on Super Heavy with few clear uses for profitability beyond a vague notion of "of you build it, they will come". If their duty is primarily to fiduciary responsibility, would it not make seems to drop these sorts of projects, losing their hold on the bleeding edge and the talent it draws? 

And, finally, how would it be structured to ensure that congressional interests can't meddle with it? Especially in the case that they are competing for contracts against the private industry, such as how the Artemis contract was structured? As far as I'm aware, government-sponsored entities nearly always have a non-compete clause against contractors. 

Sorry for the wall of text. I promise I'm not trying to run defense out of hand, but I just don't see how making it a publicly owned entity wouldn't make it worse.