Comment Re:supply lines to ISS already secure (Score 1) 200
Nothing is set in stone yet. In the last couple days Musk was talking about a variety of possible avenues forwards. Those are indeed the plans floating around now though. But it would be premature to say anything is remotely decided.
I don't think SpaceX is even remotely near a position where they can tell NASA to take a hike. They are in very many ways in a partnership. Things would be a lot harder without NASA there. AND NASA is a huge source of money. Just recently there was talk of SpaceX making its super-heavy instead of NASA for the US government. That contract would represent another 2.5Billion just to go where they wanted/intended to anyways! Plus they would get continual flight purchases from NASA after that.
Also they already have a 2014 flight sold to Bigelow, I'm sure that number will increase as they prove themselves. And I'm unconvinced that SA would be worth that much to them since their goal seems to be mainly sub-orbital... there aren't many people with 10~20million to visit the space station... Though with a heavy lifter and a large enough group they may be able to cut that below 5million/person (if all of musk's optimism comes to pass)
I don't think SpaceX is even remotely near a position where they can tell NASA to take a hike. They are in very many ways in a partnership. Things would be a lot harder without NASA there. AND NASA is a huge source of money. Just recently there was talk of SpaceX making its super-heavy instead of NASA for the US government. That contract would represent another 2.5Billion just to go where they wanted/intended to anyways! Plus they would get continual flight purchases from NASA after that.
Also they already have a 2014 flight sold to Bigelow, I'm sure that number will increase as they prove themselves. And I'm unconvinced that SA would be worth that much to them since their goal seems to be mainly sub-orbital... there aren't many people with 10~20million to visit the space station... Though with a heavy lifter and a large enough group they may be able to cut that below 5million/person (if all of musk's optimism comes to pass)