SpaceX just launched a satellite with a re-used booster which then landed again.

[rashdanml]

On 3/31/2017 at 0:53 AM, sof006 said:

It takes a private company to get shit done, always. Government ran projects are always slow to progress due to paper work and things getting in the way.

 

If you're one man running a massive private company then you can in theory not let anything stop you, especially if you have tons of money... NASA would be doing this most likely if the US government allowed them to do it.

Private companies tend to work as government contractors though. 

 

Private companies tend to be faster and more efficient (cost-efficient, usually) than solely government. 

[Sakkura]

1 hour ago, rashdanml said:

Private companies tend to work as government contractors though. 

 

Private companies tend to be faster and more efficient (cost-efficient, usually) than solely government. 

That can still be inefficient. NASA has been sort of forced to use subcontractors all over the place because of congressmen who want money going to their district, and that makes for a messy and expensive supply chain.

 

Part of the reason their replacement for the Shuttle Program, the Space Launch System (SLS), is also called the Senate Launch System.