[MisterMower]

How does this satellite benefit humanity as a whole? Why should US taxpayers fund it in its entirety if other people are reaping the benefit?

Do you seriously believe the US government, given its profligate spending over the past three decades, is somehow less short sighted than its corporations, who at least try to maintain their long term financial solvency?

Putting men on the moon provided the know-how to put a nuke on an ICBM and send it straight to the doorstep of the Kremlin. The other benefits and discoveries were purely coincidental.

But at least those benefits were real and valuable. What benefits has this satellite provided that are anywhere close to what we got out of the space program?