"I'm am shocked, shocked I tell you, to learn that market forces
are at work in the former Soviet Union."

"Your stock options, sir..."

"Ah yes, thank you."

So has anyone done the math? At a charge of $51 million per astronaut
per ride, how many rides does it take before we'd save money using our
own rockets? According to the link, NASA has inked a deal for six rides
on Soyuz to the ISS in 2012 and 2013 for $306 million.

I would suspect that if ISS were to be de-orbited in 2020 as what appears
to be the direction for the new plan, you'd be juuuuust beyond the
threshold where'd it'd pay to fund our own rocket program vs buying rides
on the Soyuz.

Then, when 2020 comes along, weeeelll the ISS gets another extension to
say 2028, where its juuust beyond the threshold to where buying rides on
Soyuz is still cheaper than building our own, then when 2028 get around,
weeeellll.....

;-)

Dave