Once upon a time -- oh, about eight years ago -- it cost as much as $400 million to launch a rocket to space. But then along came SpaceX.

Advertising launch prices as low as $67 million to put 22 tons of cargo in low Earth orbit with its Falcon 9 rocket, and developing a Starship vehicle that could launch 5 times more cargo for $2 million or less, SpaceX is making real progress toward its goal of lowering the cost of space travel by a factor of 100.

Granted, Starship still hasn't conducted a successful test flight to orbit. But it's getting close. And for rival launch company United Launch Alliance -- a joint venture between Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) -- time is running out to field a rocket that can compete with SpaceX on cost.

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Source Fool.com