[visakanv]

Yeah, imagine investing in things like... the first electricity service provider, or the first telephone, or the first TV. All of those things are multi-billion dollar industries. I'm sure this entire exchange has been played out before for other emergent industries!

[crdb]

The issue is picking a winner. As Warren Buffett points out, there are thousands of bankrupt airlines and car companies. If you pick a loser, you wipe out no matter how well the industry does, as consolidation is inevitable particularly in high barrier to entry industries. This keeps early valuations low.

[vidyesh]

I am not sure if you are trying to be sarcastic or agreeing to my point.

But yes, emerging technologies are not something every common-man invests in.

[visakanv]

Agreeing! "What use is electricity?" "What use is a newborn baby?"

[arethuza]

Are rockets an emerging technology? There have been commercial launches for decades.

[vidyesh]

FYI, SpaceX was founded in 2002.

And well rockets is really a very broad term which not just includes spacecrafts but also missiles.

SpaceX is unique not for sending 'rockets' but it for being the first privately funded company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft also the first private company to send spacecraft to ISS.

So yes, Space transport/travel is a luxurious and emerging market.

[lmm]

> SpaceX is unique not for sending 'rockets' but it for being the first privately funded company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft also the first private company to send spacecraft to ISS.

In what sense? The SpaceX launches were under NASA contract. Neither STS nor Apollo before it was built purely in-house by NASA; most of the parts were built by Rockwell, Lockheed and others. What's the big distinction here? Just that SpaceX was taking a bigger chunk of the failure risk?

[Crito]

SpaceX retains ownership of the rockets, they sell flights on the rockets rather than the rockets themselves. My understanding is that this is a recent development in the industry. For example, the Shuttles were built by Rockwell but, as I understand it, owned by NASA.

[vidyesh]

You are confusing two things, NASA outsourcing the parts built by other companies is a contract based project for which NASA was funded by the government. This means if any losses, are faced by NASA/government not the companies which made the parts.

SpaceX is more like a privately funded Space Exploration Company. NASA awarded them the contact not to outsource parts like in earlier projects but for SpaceX's design and technology.

Also the NASA contract to send cargo to ISS was one thing of the many SpaceX is doing. So in a lot of sense it is unique. Not sure why you think the ISS contract is the only thing what SpaceX is living on.