Rather than continue to compete against the government, Beal Aerospace has decided to cease operations. What provoked this decision? Well,
X-33![](/images/icons/term)
was bad enough for the private launch vehicle industry, since no investor wants to put money into a company when the government (in the form of
NASA![](/images/icons/who)
) is seen to be funding a competitor, particularly one the size of
Boeing![](/images/icons/who)
or
Lockheed![](/images/icons/who)
. The 'Space Launch Initiative', which supercedes
X-33![](/images/icons/term)
without it even flying once, ups the government ante from $1.5bn to a staggering proposed $4bn. It's not hard to see how an investor is likely to react to that.