Politicians never seem to care when their buddies at the defense primes screw over the taxpayers.
SpaceX has created unprecedented value for the U.S. Government at a fraction of the cost of competitors.
In 2014 NASA contracted Boeing and SpaceX under the commercial crew program to return American human spaceflight to American soil after the shuttle's retirement.
NASA awarded Boeing ~$4.2 Billion for Starliner and SpaceX ~$2.6 Billion for Crew Dragon.
Each provider was meant to complete 1 crewed test flight and then 6 operational crew missions to and from the ISS, for a total of 12 operational crew missions alternating between SpaceX and Boeing.
SpaceX successfully completed their first crewed test flight (Demo-2) in 2020.
Boeing's first crewed test flight (CFT) launched in 2024. Starliner was unable to complete this crewed test flight, as it encountered helium leaks and thruster malfunctions on approach to the ISS, and was deemed unsafe to return astronauts Butch and Suni to Earth.
SpaceX had to rescue Butch and Suni as part of the Crew-9 mission on Dragon.
Due to Starliner's delays, NASA had forfeit Boeing's 6 initial missions to SpaceX. SpaceX has so far completed 11 commercial crew missions, with Crew-12 currently on station and set to return in October.
So, Boeing was four years behind SpaceX on their first crewed mission, needed SpaceX to rescue their first crewed mission, and needed SpaceX to fulfill their contract for 6 operational crewed missions to the ISS, and yet Boeing was awarded almost double the amount SpaceX was.
Subsidies did not make SpaceX and Tesla worth what they are, they have these valuations because they consistently provide better products at a lower cost and greater reliability, and have Elon Musk at their helm, who is potentially the greatest allocator of capital the world has ever seen.
The article is totally false btw. You can add up every government incentive my companies have ever received and they amount to less than 2% of the value of SpaceX and Tesla!
And many of these incentives actually helped our competitors disproportionately to Tesla or SpaceX.
For example, when President Trump removed the $7500 tax credit for electric vehicles, Tesla sales actually INCREASED, because more buyers shifted from other EV makers to Tesla.