Space is a luxury. We have no money.
This is short sighted. The space program technological payback was multifold, and the domino-like propagation of this technology to all parts of our lives is phenomenal. Many of the conveniences we take for granted had their beginnings in products or technologies developed through NASA/DARPA. (Yes - you really need to include DARPA - which is REALLY the US premiere technology research agency).
One simple example: electronics miniaturization was driven by the needs of the space program!
In my mind - we can’t afford NOT to invest in the space program.
As for whether a private company can move forward where NASA has stumbled. SpaceX is proof it can. I believe another poster, a NASA engineer, has to much skin in the government game to have an objective view point. He neglects the fact that there are a few people that are as rich as countries that CAN afford this type of effort. Add that to industry’s efficiency and you have a winner. I DO believe that the current idea of NASA helping with seed money is a good expenditure of my tax dollars!
To compare Commercial versus Government development models - let’s look at the F-35 versus the development of the Predator. The F-35 has suffered multiple overruns - both due to technological issues & congressional meddling. The Predator was developed by General Atomics THEN offered up for sale - they had something the US Government could use, and the rest is history. Note that the few times that GA has tried to work as a Government contractor, i.e modify designs to a government specification - it didn’t go so well! Both points should be used as lessons!
The SpaceX involvement with NASA seems to be producing results too. NASA has put out requirements & paid some money - SpaceX has thrown private capital into the mix, with the result being multiple successful launches. NASA has mostly stayed out of their way, and helped expedite some regulatory issues. SpaceX had done in a few years what up until now only the US, USSR & Chinese Governments have managed to do - and they’ve done it in record time for a fraction of the cost.
QED - commercialization of space is the only real way forward, but we need to continue to push the envelope through NASA, etc as well.