And liftoff. The final liftoff of Atlantis. When
NASA retired its Space Shuttle Program in 2011, the U.S. didn't have a way of getting to space
itself. Since the government agency no longer developed its own spacecraft, it turned to private
companies for a ride to the International Space Station by creating the Commercial Crew Program.
Think of NASA as a customer looking for an Uber ride and its Ubers of choice were Boeing and
SpaceX. They've been developing and perfecting their infrastructure for a decade before this
moment. Five, four, three two, one zero, liftoff. Go NASA, go SpaceX, godspeed Bob and Doug. No
one thought SpaceX would be first to send NASA astronauts into orbit. This is the story of why
Elon Musk's company won the race against Boeing. The classic tale of David and Goliath is
about a young shepherd who defeats a giant. Although many believe the moral of
the story is that the underdog won, Malcolm Gladwell makes the case in his book that
we're misunderstanding who had the upper hand. The giant was the weak one. He was slow
and half-blind. David was powerful because he was quick and agile. SpaceX was the new
kid on the block, the David in the story. Boeing was the giant of the aerospace industry
with a legacy stretching back more than 100 years. It seems NASA was banking on Boeing when deciding
the amount to give the companies to develop spacecraft that would fly astronauts to the
ISS. NASA handed Boeing a $4.2 billion contract compared to $2.6 billion for SpaceX. Its Office
of Inspector General, the oversight division for the agency, put it this way: NASA was willing
to pay $90 million a seat to ride with Boeing but only $55 million for a seat with SpaceX,
assuming four astronauts for six missions. Musk pointed out it's not fair that Boeing gets so much
more for the same thing while Boeing disagreed with the OIG's report, explaining it will fly
the equivalent of a fifth passenger in cargo so the per seat calculation would be less. With
the funding, Boeing manufactured the Starliner. Please enjoy the tour. This is
its pressure vessel which is the underlying structure of the spacecraft's
crew module that houses the astronauts. And SpaceX developed the Dragon 2,
an upgrade from its previous version. Hello, everyone. Welcome aboard Dragon. When
astronauts boarded Crew Dragon in May 2020, it meant the space agency no longer had to rely
on the Russians to send Americans into orbit. Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley spent about two months
at the ISS conducting science experiments before returning to Earth. Splashdown. Thanks for flying
SpaceX. Boeing actually had the chance to win the race to space if it were not for an incident in
December 2019. And liftoff. The rise of Starliner and a new era in human spaceflight. But it didn't
quite usher in a new era of human spaceflight. The Starliner had a test flight without crew
to see if it was ready to fly astronauts. It was supposed to go to the International Space
Station, deliver cargo, and return. Instead, there was a software problem, and that
caused the engines to fire at the wrong time, and that put Starliner in the wrong orbit so it
never made it to the ISS but it did make it home. NASA realized it had put too much trust in Boeing
which had a long history of supporting the space agency's missions. The head of NASA's Commercial
Crew Program admitted: "we were, I would say, a little more used to the Boeing process." Musk once
put it in a harsher way, telling the Washington Post Boeing was arrogant and complacent and
doesn't get out of bed for less than $1 billion. Boeing shot back by saying it helped NASA
build the ISS before SpaceX was even born and "...will deliver on our commitment to
America's journey to Mars. That's what we get out of bed for." While NASA didn't scrutinize Boeing
enough, it paid a lot of attention to SpaceX's software development and that's where SpaceX
shined. Musk came from a software background. He co-founded PayPal and is the CEO of Tesla which
is developing self-driving software. SpaceX's status as a startup also played to its advantage
which might seem counterintuitive but being new to the rocket business meant it had to keep improving
rapidly to stay alive. SpaceX nearly died in 2008 after three failed rocket launches but persevered
for a fourth attempt which was a success. Because of that launch, NASA awarded SpaceX $1.6
billion to resupply cargo to the ISS. Without that contract, SpaceX would have gone bankrupt.
On the other hand, Boeing brings in a lot of profit every year as the leading producer of
commercial airlines - making $10 billion in 2018. But recently, the company hasn't been doing so
well. The grounding of the 737 Max planes caused Boeing to report a loss in 2019 for the first
time in over 20 years and the pandemic isn't making it any better. Although space only makes
up a small portion of its annual revenue, for now, that could change in the future. Starliner will
be launched again, possibly later this year, and if that goes well there could be a manned
mission to the ISS next year. That would still put Boeing a year behind SpaceX. Regardless of who is
ahead, they both benefit from contracts with NASA because it helps fund their infrastructure that
they can use elsewhere. The Crew Dragon will bring three private tourists to the ISS in 2021. You
can take a ride if you have $55 million to spare. And more importantly, NASA's funding has
helped SpaceX develop reusable rockets. This is where SpaceX has made a name for itself.
The one that launched the Crew Dragon was the Falcon 9 - a partially reusable rocket because its
booster lands back on Earth. But things haven't always gone smoothly. In 2015, the Falcon 9
exploded two minutes after liftoff during a resupply mission to the ISS. The following year,
it blew up before it was supposed to launch Facebook's $200 million satellite into orbit.
And landing hasn't always worked out either. But those trials appear to be in the past. SpaceX
has landed the Falcon 9 booster many times in one piece, paving the way for the ultimate goal of
developing a fully reusable rocket and spacecraft called Starship. This is, I think, the most
inspiring thing that I've ever seen. The plan is to use Starship to send people to the moon,
build a city on Mars, and for travel from one point to another on Earth. Reusability is
crucial for keeping costs low in order to make space travel possible for everyone. This is
the biggest difference between SpaceX and Boeing: the rocket that launched Boeing's Starliner into
orbit cannot be reused. The Atlas 5 was developed by United Launch Alliance or ULA which is a
joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. ULA has mentioned possibly reusing the booster
engines of another rocket, the Vulcan Centaur, by catching them in the air with parachutes
and a helicopter, although the company hasn't mentioned when testing will begin. Musk recently
called ULA a complete waste of taxpayer money because their rockets are not reusable. It's
clear that SpaceX has a big lead over Boeing to the surprise of many industry veterans. But
examined another way, it's not a surprise at all. SpaceX, like David, is not the underdog. It
has the advantage because it's quick and agile. Goliath never stood a chance. And as of right now,
neither, it seems, does Boeing. Thanks so much for watching, I'm Cindy Pom. So, do you think that
Boeing can catch up with SpaceX? Is there room for more than one company in space? Let me know
your thoughts. You can leave a comment in the section below. I also want to give a shout out
to my Patrons. I really appreciate your support. If you like what you saw, give it a like, and
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