>>12788451I don't think its subsidized in the sense of just giving them money. The government is a client and spacex is a contractor. They bought development of commercial cargo & crew to replace the shuttle, and they buy launches to launch government assets on spacex rockets. If the government wants something from the private sector, they have to pay for it. That in a vacuum isn't market distortion or choosing the winners. It's not a bail out, loan, or a tax credit.
Starship is also funded by elon musk himself.
Also military R&D eventually makes its way to the tax payer as consumer technology, it's just questionably inefficient because it's been run by lobbying for so long.
