[basdp]

How many years did SpaceX do over that modern rocket? How many years did NASA do to get to said modern rocket? I'd say he's on a pretty good roll.

[ant6n]

SpaceX didn't start in a vacuum, or in the 40s.

[wongarsu]

Neither did Ariane 5, Atlas V, Delta IV or Soyuz-FG. Of course SpaceX profits from the state of the art, but not developing the Xth iteration over a proven and battle-tested design with decades of flight-data is a disadvantage for SpaceX.

[greglindahl]

SpaceX benefits from being able to inspect landed boosters. This comparison is apples-to-oranges.

[tajen]

And don’t forget in 1969 when they landed on the moon, they had to code all the timestamps in negative.