Good analysis. The big change I see here is talk of buying a rocket, rather than just using it. They could start with the Falcon 9 of course, rather than Starship.
I'm not sure if he means purchase in the common use of the word, in the acquisition sense, or how it's used for SpaceX launching DoD payloads.
Before F9, it would have meant buying a core (or several) to use and throw away. With SpaceX, the DoD buys the service, but not the core. I assumed the author was referring to that current state of "purchase," and not buying them outright. But it could be the author meant buy dedicated cores.
Good analysis. The big change I see here is talk of buying a rocket, rather than just using it. They could start with the Falcon 9 of course, rather than Starship.
Thanks, Alastair!
I'm not sure if he means purchase in the common use of the word, in the acquisition sense, or how it's used for SpaceX launching DoD payloads.
Before F9, it would have meant buying a core (or several) to use and throw away. With SpaceX, the DoD buys the service, but not the core. I assumed the author was referring to that current state of "purchase," and not buying them outright. But it could be the author meant buy dedicated cores.