"The U.S. Space Access at Risk: Eating its Seed Corn"

With the U.S. increasingly relying on SpaceX for space launches, there's a concern that rocket research and development efforts have been deprioritized by the Space Force, Air Force, and NASA. The success of SpaceX has led to a default situation where these agencies procure space launch as a service, potentially hindering independent space access. The authors argue that continued investment in rocket science and technology is crucial for future challenges, drawing parallels to historical examples of incremental research leading to significant advancements in military capabilities.