One year ago, Beal Aerospace decided to close up shop after NASA announced the

Rather than continue to compete against the government, Beal Aerospace has decided to cease operations. What provoked this decision? Well, X-33 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) is seen to be funding a competitor, particularly one the size of Boeing or Lockheed. The 'Space Launch Initiative', which supercedes X-33 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.