this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2023
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I'm hoping that Dragon 2's growing flight history helps reduce risks and the need for dissimilar redundancy, but I'll still be happier once both are in service. Two providers would be helpful just from a commercial standpoint now that ISS Crew, Axiom, Polaris, and Vast crew missions are all manifested.
I agree, the main concerns are commercial ones. Dragon has already proven itself to be an incredibly reliable vehicle, both from a safety perspective, and a mission availability perspective. But in the future it would be great to have a second company able to provide a similar product.
Boeing unfortunately still has the Old Space type legacy which seems to hold them back in a way New Space companies aren't. Perhaps some day Relativity, Firefly or Rocket Lab can step into the LEO taxi role.
On the startup side, I would also love to see Stoke make a crewed variant down the line.