A more accurate analogy would be giving contracts to Exxon back before they had ever found or drilled a single oil well, as their primary source of revenue to subsidize their R&D and learning curve, in the hope that they would eventually be able to supply the government with needed oil, and ultimately succeeded to become a key supplier.
[−]somenameforme · 2026-11-15 Sun 02:34 UTC ·
link
They only gave the contract once Falcon had already gotten into orbit.