What you are reading is intended for people who have a passing or general interest in either NASA, space, science & technology, or how the government & business interplay in this field.  I use a lot of simplifications & generalizations and gloss over some details.  What inspired me to write this is the (hopefully) upcoming major launch milestone for SpaceX’s Starship rocket, how I see some of the media coverage around Starship & the SLS rocket launch from 4 months ago, and some conversations I had with people unfamiliar with the space industry.  This will NOT be a comparison between SLS and Starship; there are countless articles and YouTube videos that do the comparison and the world doesn’t need any more of those.  This is not intended to be unbiased and neutral.  I have opinions; I’m sharing them and explaining why I have them.  Do your own research and learn about the other side of the argument before forming strong opinions of your own.