[sjburt]

Carmack invested about $2 million into Armadillo in its first 6 years. Elon invested $100 million in that time frame (actually, the first 4 years of SpaceX).

Armadillo did OK actually, they just were on a completely different trajectory. It was very much a hobby project for Carmack.

[derekp7]

Not only that, but wasn't Armadillo one of the "straight-up-to-100KM-and-return" (suborbital) designs? If so, then there is no money to be made in that (except for wealthy people that want a 20 minute thrill ride). It is the "lateral velocity of Mach 25" type of rocket that gets you satellite launch contracts.