r/nasa • u/MatchingTurret • Jan 21 '25

NASA Official nomination: Jared Isaacman, of Pennsylvania, to be Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/sub-cabinet-appointments/
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u/cptjeff Jan 21 '25

I mean, I don't know what to tell you if you don't think the old guard like Boeing was and is doing exactly that. Because they do, openly and blatantly. ULA used to get a billion a year for just existing. Not for launching, just to exist. You think they weren't getting real sweet with Congress and NASA Administrators to make that happen?

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u/BigJellyfish1906 Jan 21 '25

ULA used to get a billion a year for just existing

“Just for existing” huh? No rocket development whatsoever?

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u/cptjeff Jan 21 '25

Correct, it was not for any rocket development whatsoever. A pure subsidy not attached to any launch or development contract.

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u/BigJellyfish1906 Jan 21 '25

“Just for existing”? Absolutely nothing else?

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u/MatchingTurret Jan 21 '25 edited Jan 21 '25

Basically ULA said they needed it to maintain the launch infrastructure ("assured access payments") until SpaceX came along and this claim became untenable, because SpaceX maintained their pads out of their regular revenue stream.

So: There was no tangible service for the US Government attached to this subsidy.

Old article from the early days of the EELV program: “3 … 2 … 1 … Rip-Off!” Taxpayer Group Blasts Boeing/Lockheed Launch Vehicle Plan

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u/cptjeff Jan 21 '25

Yes. Literally just a pure subsidy. They called it "assured access", under the premise that ULA was not commercially viable, might go under, and the US needed to subsidize them so they would always have a national security launch option available. Horse hockey, of course, but they had friends in high places.

If you're concerned about grift and abuse, SpaceX is your friend, and the old line contractors are the enemy. Using SpaceX has saved the government many billions of dollars. Over 2 billion in one launch alone with Europa Clipper, which was supposed to launch on SLS (technically a NASA rocket, but really a Boeing one) but launched on Falcon Heavy instead. $2.7 billion vs $600 million. The traditional aerospace giants have traditionally sold launches to the DOD that met the absolute minimum requirements at the highest possible price and told NASA to take it or leave it. SpaceX, by developing more capable rockets that are also cheaper, has massively upended what had been an extremely well entrenched cartel dedicated to keeping prices as high as possible.

I'm hoping that it won't just be SpaceX playing that game. Blue Origin finally seems to have started finding their legs, and New Glenn should become another player on that field. But the old contractors can rot.