[adastra22]

It's not either/or, and you shouldn't reduce things to false dichotomies.

[mikelitoris]

It is though, when you have a fixed budget, even at planetary scales.

[adastra22]

Are we still talking about private enterprises, not space agencies?

[jimnotgym]

They are indeed private companies, being subsidised by space agencies.

[sokoloff]

Are they being subsidized the same way my employer subsidizes my lifestyle?

If I sell steel, grain, boots, or launch services to the government and that gives me profits that I invest into some aspect of my business, I’m not sure that “subsidized by” is the clearest term.

[jimnotgym]

I'm not sure it is an open market that anyone could join. The US government seems to favour domestic supply. Therefore I believe it is a subsidy, yes

[adastra22]

Pretty much all of the commercial rocket companies are in America. There is competition between them. In the amount of money that SpaceX gets from the government is quite small compared to its overall operating expenses. They launched 90% of all mass to orbit, most of which is commercial.

The “SpaceX lives on government subsidies” thing is a myth.