If you think about it every airport in america should clear out a down range area over a mile long and a mile wide at the top and bottom of every runway.

As the economy gets worse, so does the retail sales.
The online services is their growth market (still comes in behind Microsoft and Google) and this is who’s buying it.

“The cloud is where the real profit lies
Generating over $23 billion in sales last quarter, Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides businesses and governments with various tech infrastructure services, like computing power, storage capacity, and database management. Compared to investing in IT tools on-site, these cloud computing customers benefit from lower costs and from having the flexibility to adjust their needs up or down at any time. This frees up capital that would otherwise be tied up in long-term projects.”

“AWS, whose clients include Walt Disney, Verizon Communications, and Capital One, is tiny (as measured by revenue) when compared to the company overall. But its profitability is notable. The segment posted a stellar 30% operating margin in Q3, generating $7 billion in Q3 operating income. For comparison’s sake, Amazon as a whole reported $11.2 billion in operating income last quarter.“
https://www.fool.com/investing/2024/01/21/where-amazon-generates-most-operating-profit/

I would be worried about banks and large corporations in public private partnership‘s (yes, “fascism”) and the fact that they made the new version of “quantitative easing” of available cash, with “Buy In”where it’s legal to steal your investors/customers money to stay solvent.

Perhaps Blue Origin was trying to influence this bid?
https://techcrunch.com/2024/06/26/spacex-scores-843m-nasa-contract-to-deorbit-iss-in-2030/

I think it would be a waste to destroy ISS. Push it to a higher orbit to be used for private use or as a staging base to build a larger facilities for moon/Mars construction.
Even if the interior it’s no longer habitable, they can park their “Tesla drones” there to use the solar panels for a battery recharging station? eventually it will be the central feature in a future “world historical site”, to be displayed next to the first Apollo landing.

aka fascism. Government doesn’t own the means of production but directs what they are to do.

Any restrictions placed against a proven product, Will be doubly applied to an “experimental one” from a rivaling rocket maker. In other words, they’re suggesting a noose for SpaceX that will fit their own necks better!
Perhaps they believe with the money spent on politicians and lobbyist will pay off for them in a public private partnership “exclusive deal” to give them the inside track. (We will see how well that works for Europe)

China’s model of a public private partnership has benefited them in the short run… “Results or else” with no regard for human life, safety, or environment. It is an effective deterrent to fat and lazy, until their leader/emperor dies. The current government jobs eventually turn into “welfare positions” where your goal in life is to save your job for your kids and grandchildren. (Kind of what happened to NASA, which became a Muslim out reach?)

What is particularly galling to me is the way the detrimental impact on the economy, jobs, the space program and, yes, national security is ignored.

ULA has every right to use their own launch facility. SpaceX has no right to take that from them.

Bob: feel free to close the tag and delete this message.

At the rate SpaceX wants to launch Starship, ULA’s launch facility is useless and pointless.

ULA’s complaint is that the blast radius for a Starship is so large that they would have to evacuate LC-41 every time a Starship is fueled for either launch or testing. At the rate SpaceX wants to launch Starship that would make ULA’s launch facility unusable.

It’s a valid complaint.

The military will then quietly make a few mentions of its own. Add in any other operation that wants to put something in space.

“Rent seeking is an economic concept where an entity seeks to gain wealth without contributing any productivity in return. Essentially, it’s about trying to improve one’s riches at the expense of society. Imagine a company lobbying the government for grants, subsidies, or tariff protection—that’s a classic example of rent seeking. In more colloquial terms, it’s like privilege seeking—trying to secure financial gains through cunning or manipulative resource management1. So, when you encounter situations where someone benefits without creating value, you’re witnessing rent-seeking behavior.”