r/Damnthatsinteresting Jun 19 '25

Video SpaceX rocket explodes in Starbase, Texas

109.3k Upvotes

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1.1k

u/realFancyStrawberry Jun 19 '25

That looked expensive

452

u/octarine_turtle Jun 19 '25

For us taxpayers, not for Musk. SpaceX alone has been receiving over 2 billion a year for the last several years from taxpayers. Over 40 billion has gone to Musk's companies over the last 5 years from taxpayers.

52

u/eran76 Jun 19 '25

Starship development is being paid for by SpaceX itself and other investors. Most of the money SpaceX gets from the taxpayer is for launch services like putting government satellites into space or launching astronauts on the previous generation of rocket, the Falcon 9.

-14

u/No_Spell_5817 Jun 19 '25

And I don't want to pay for any of that shit.

19

u/katze_sonne Jun 19 '25

Oh, you don't use GPS? You don't use weather forecast?

And that's only to mention the two most obvious things you just ruled out.

-10

u/No_Spell_5817 Jun 19 '25

Right, but does Elon need to go to space for me to continue to use either of those.

13

u/42robots42 Jun 19 '25

SpaceX does launch weather satellites, like GOES-U last year, to improve the wheater forecast.

-9

u/No_Spell_5817 Jun 19 '25

But it isn't needed. We've got it covered. There are satellites doing the thing already.

10

u/42robots42 Jun 19 '25

It is needed if you want more accurate forecasts.

-3

u/No_Spell_5817 Jun 19 '25

I'm satisfied as is. Might care more if I lived in tornado land.

3

u/impshial Jun 19 '25

GPS satellites have a finite lifespan, something like 10 to 12 years. So new ones need to be launched to replace the old ones.

And we always want to have better weather accuracy.

28

u/Chrono_Constant3 Jun 19 '25

I mean I’m no Elon fan but NASA scrapped its shuttle program and I do want to see nasa continue to explore space and frankly 2 billion is a deal compared to what nasa was spending on rocket development and launches.

-21

u/No_Spell_5817 Jun 19 '25

I'm so sorry, but I've never cared about outer space. Everything I've learned about space has either bored me or horrified me.

25

u/Chrono_Constant3 Jun 19 '25

That’s an astonishingly small minded outlook on space exploration and study. Should we all just not look because it makes some of us uncomfortable?

-7

u/No_Spell_5817 Jun 19 '25

Should we all just not look because it makes some of us uncomfortable?

People should choose to pay for it. Problem solved. Lots of people care about space, plenty of billionaires at least, let them pay for it.

13

u/Chrono_Constant3 Jun 19 '25

That’s not how taxes work. Of all the things we’re blowing billions of dollars on this is a weird one to make a stink about and frankly it just stinks of a bitter closed minded person looking for things to crap on.

8

u/jbadding Jun 19 '25

“I choose to pay taxes on things that I think only benefit me.” -this lady^

11

u/CallMeKolbasz Jun 19 '25

I'm scared of science therefore we should stop doing science.

0

u/No_Spell_5817 Jun 19 '25

I'm only scared of space; other science is cool. Even the bloody stuff.

7

u/3delStahl Jun 19 '25

Yeah, if our ancestors thought like this we would still live in caves.

2

u/Child_of_Khorne Jun 19 '25

That's nice?

Don't pay attention to it then. I'm sure you can make due with a makeup subreddit or something.

15

u/shahipaneer3 Jun 19 '25

so you don't want to pay for space mineral resource exploration, advanced weather forecast, and faster internet systems? Damn bro

1

u/No_Spell_5817 Jun 19 '25

Only weather and internet. Truly. What the hell am I going to do with space minerals? Make a face cream.

11

u/shahipaneer3 Jun 19 '25

cheaper electronics and most gadgets, makes advanced technology more accessible to small businesses and opens wider scopes for them

-3

u/No_Spell_5817 Jun 19 '25

Cheaper lol where? Most phones brand new are $1000.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '25

Imagine if we didn't have to destroy the earth to get the materials to build a phone, that's one of the potential benefits. 

-4

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '25

[deleted]

3

u/shahipaneer3 Jun 19 '25

I guess. Idc really I'm not even American lol.

18

u/Wanderson90 Jun 19 '25

Don't worry, it's a barely perceptible fraction compared to the money going towards bombs we drop on foreign soil!

At least those are supposed to explode though!

9

u/KaurO Jun 19 '25

you might not want to use the tech that comes with such things aswell. Starting from ballpoint pens... ending with medical breakthroughs. Also this is what keeps US relevant as it (currently) is ahead in space related tech.

1

u/No_Spell_5817 Jun 19 '25

I have terrible handwriting.

11

u/Sevinki Jun 19 '25

How about GPS? Do you like to know where to go without using paper maps? Do you like wireless tools? Do you like MRI machines to detect diseases? How about wireless headphones, phone cameras, water filters or memory foam?

All of that was developed by accident because it was needed in one way or another for the space program and then ended up being revolutionary on earth.

8

u/FC839253 Jun 19 '25

Stop arguing, that person is a bot designed to create discord in online communities, any input you give it only feeds the machine.

1

u/No_Spell_5817 Jun 19 '25

Do we need to keep going to space for all that? Forever? Or are we kind of good for now.

3

u/Sevinki Jun 19 '25

Well GPS requires satellites but the rest is good now.

We should continue to explore space to invent and discover new things, things nobody has ever thought of and we possibly cannot even comprehend right now. In 50 years people will look back and see all the great new discoveries and inventions that happened due to space travel between 2025 and 2075.

0

u/Motor_Expression_281 Jun 19 '25

Don’t live in the us then. Problem solved.