Insight Into SpaceX and COTS

SpaceX: More NASA Launches, Less Money, FreeSpace, Discovery News

“I attempt to cover the news without bias, but privately I cheered NASA’s selection of startup SpaceX and innovative Orbital Sciences over The Big Three collaborative (not automakers, aerospace contractors) bidding on $3.5 billion of government work to deliver stuff to the International Space Station. I thought it was a little weird that SpaceX’s share, totaling $1.6 B to start, covered 12 missions, while Orbital, which got an additional $300 million, was responsible for eight. In a conference call with reporters to announce the award, NASA’s spaceflight chief Bill Gerstenmaier said the agency didn’t see anything out of line with Orbital’s bid.”