Sourced fromToby Li (@tobyliiiiiiiiii):Jared Isaacman says it's a problem that NASA is building rockets when the commercial space industry is doing the same."NASA needs to constantly be recalibrating to do the near impossible, what no one else is doing - and the things they figured out, they hand off to industry." https://t.co/abdGGqpJdr ...

Core Insights - Rocket Lab's stock has increased over 150% year-to-date, trading at approximately $65, driven by optimism surrounding its Neutron rocket program and commercial space sector involvement [2] - The company's price-to-sales ratio stands at 66.5x, significantly higher than the S&P 500's 3.2x, raising questions about the sustainability of this valuation [2][8] - Despite being unprofitable, Rocket Lab has a strong balance sheet with $688 million in cash and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.5, allowing for growth investments [4][5] Financial Performance - Rocket Lab has achieved a three-year revenue growth averaging 58.4% annually, with trailing twelve-month revenue growth of 54.4%, reaching $504 million [4] - The most recent quarter showed a 36% year-over-year revenue growth to $144 million [4] - Cash constitutes 44.3% of total assets, providing significant financial flexibility [5] Market Dynamics - The stock demonstrated moderate resilience, rebounding to pre-crisis levels after an 82.8% drop during the 2022 inflation crisis [6] - The Neutron rocket program represents a strategic move into the medium-lift launch market, potentially enhancing Rocket Lab's competitive position against SpaceX [6] - The current valuation may reflect investor confidence in the company's future potential rather than its present operations [9] Valuation Concerns - Rocket Lab is considered expensive, losing nearly 46 cents for every dollar of revenue while being valued at 66.5x sales [8] - For traditional value-focused investors, this presents considerable downside risk [8] - The investment decision hinges on whether investors prioritize historical performance or future growth opportunities [9]

Air Traffic Control & Infrastructure - The FAA is working to update air traffic control infrastructure and technology, with $125 billion allocated as a down payment towards the total $315 billion needed [4] - Air traffic control improvements are expected to yield a 10 to 20 times return on investment [5] - There is a deficit of 3,000 air traffic controllers, and efforts are underway to streamline the hiring process and retain existing controllers with a 20% bonus for those who stay on after 25 years of service [7][8] - The FAA plans to deploy sensors on busy runways to actively control planes and prevent near misses [11] Space Industry & Regulation - The Commercial Space Industry aims to expedite innovation and streamline regulation [1] - The US has 60% of the space launch business, down from 100%, due to excessive regulations, and the goal is to streamline processes to encourage more launches from America [34] - The cost to launch a satellite into space has decreased to a little over $1 million due to innovation from companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin [38] - The government aims to treat all space companies fairly, providing equitable access to launchpads and licensing to foster competition [41] Aviation Taxes & Privatization - Everyone using the airspace should help pay for it, often through fuel taxes [17] - Infrastructure usage, such as air traffic control, airports, and launchpads, should factor into taxation, with different structures for commercial and private aviation [19][20] - Privatizing air traffic control was considered but did not pass, and is not currently being pursued [20][21] Criticism of Previous Administration - The previous Secretary of DOT was criticized for focusing on DEI and climate initiatives instead of addressing basic infrastructure needs [24] - $7 billion allocated for charging stations resulted in only 84 being built due to regulations related to DEI and green initiatives [29]

Many would say NASA needs to be going for the moon shots to use a better pun, but they should be going for extraordinary exploration. They perhaps shouldn't be funding well testing of, well, certain private companies engines. They shouldn't be actually beefing up in terms of manages.They'd be stripping layers. But is this going to the moon shots to. Well, I think that's kind of the question of of the moment right now.There's this fundamental tension of what an asset is supposed to be. You know, for years, f ...