Falcon 9

“The crucial distinction is between development and operations. SpaceX runs both, but with completely different risk profiles. So for the Dragon, it carries crew. It can never fail. So there's large margins of safety, there's exhaustive testing, there's conserv…”

“A Falcon nine goes up every two to three days. Competitors manage single digit launches per year. The same boosters have been reused 20 times each.”

“A NASA study found SpaceX developed Falcon nine for roughly four hundred and forty million. They estimated the same work with traditional contractors would have cost three to 10 times that amount.”

“Falcon nine's grid fins were originally designed to fold like traditional aerospace grid fins. The folding mechanism reduced drag during ascent, which seemed obviously necessary. SpaceX questioned whether it was worth the mass and complexity. Simulations showe…”

“Building 40 identical Falcon nines annually creates automotive style learning curves that are impossible in custom aerospace.”

“If making 40 rockets creates a manufacturing learning curve, flying the same rocket 20 times creates an operational learning curve that's even steeper.”