If Trump cuts off Federal funding, he may not have a choice. That money has to come from somewhere.
Archangel1313
joined 6 days ago
Except that it is still America, and the government seizing private property...especially from a billionaire...is straight up "socialism" as far as most Americans are concerned. I have a feeling that might not go over as easily as people think.
And just like they did in Maine, California will sue him and win.
Except that NASA is a nationally owned branch of the government. They answer directly to the executive branch and are funded by Congress. They are not a "company". They are a government agency.
That's because...technically...the government mostly provides contracts to SpaceX to take their stuff to and from orbit. They're basically paying for a service...not investing in SpaceX's product development. Even though that is an indirect result of giving them those contracts.
It's like hiring a landscaper to do your lawn. They come with their own equipment, so even though they bought it using the money you pay them...you don't own any of it. They do.
SpaceX operates a fleet of privately owned ICBMs under license from the US government.
That's not true. All nuclear weapons in the US's arsenal are under the control of the US military. You are correct to say that it would be illegal for any private contractor to operate its own fleet of ICBMs...and that includes SpeceX.
The intellectual property they are using is subject to ITAR regulation. Any American trying to transfer that IP outside of the US would be quickly indicted. Any foreign government using or authorizing the use of that IP would be heavily sanctioned.
ITAR doesn't prevent SpaceX from moving its base of operations to another country. As I said, they are a privately owned company. Moving their operations to another country is not the same thing as "giving" that technology to that country.
SpaceX is a privately owned company. I'm absolutely certain the US government doesn't own any of their intellectual property. If they chose to, they could move the entire operation to any other country, and US courts could probably do nothing to prevent it.
It dissolves...but into what? Sounds like a recipe for a petroleum salt water mix that's probably just as toxic as melted plastic, unless all the petroleum is removed.
"May"? They do.
It doesn't matter how well it does. It was too expensive. This was a one-off event, that will never be allowed to happen again.
...and it's all going to "accidentally" find its way onto Russian servers.