With each Falcon 9 approaching 30 reuses, I think we can safely say that there is a much greater than 7-to-1 return on investment with Falcon 9. As for American jobs, how many tens of thousands of American jobs have been created to make and operate all the new commercial satellites being launched, now that the cost of a launch has fallen so much? And once we have products returning from space, how many more lives will be touched and saved by the pharmaceuticals alone?

Fewer man-hours per launch allows for more satellites to be launched, which allows for more products for we Americans, causing more launches, which also requires more man-hours for the overall number of launches. It is not a zero sum game. The net benefit increases with decreasing launch costs, meaning fewer man-hours per launch.

Doesn’t SpaceX build about as many Falcon booster stages as ULA and each of the other launch companies? Yet its lower cost results in so much more productivity in space, which require so many more jobs here in America. SpaceX also builds more upper stages than any other company — than every other company combined, as of last year.

Apollo’s weakness was its cost, which is why it was cancelled. The cost was high, because it required so many jobs just to keep it flying.

https://reason.org/policy-study/commercial-space-should-lead-us-return-to-moon/

Transterrestrial Musings is easier to navigate.

The problem with Rand’s vision is that the SLS he and others bash isn’t the one doing cartwheels.

Reason.org also attacked tariffs as subsidies

https://reason.com/2025/07/25/if-trump-wants-american-businesses-to-thrive-he-should-get-rid-of-government-subsidies/

Reagan said similar nonsense—which is why I ask folks if they were better off before Ronnie back when one breadwinner’s wage could take care of a family—or afterwards…where free trade was in fact a far worse redistribution of wealth from Americans to the Third World than foreign aid ever was.

Since I know the answer to that question, I regard Simberg’s plan as delusional.

Apollo’s strength was exactly because of how many lives it touched, the 7-to-1 return on investment. Sadly, Rand is one of many who prefer rockets to be reusable—and American jobs expendable.

Boo and hiss Mike Griffin all you wish—he at least authored a real textbook on spacecraft design.