# The Prime Exits: How Boeing, Lockheed, and Northrop Walked Away From NASA's Commercial Space Bet

- slug: the-prime-exits-how-boeing-lockheed-and-northrop-walked-away-from-nasas-commercial-space-bet
- date: 2026-04-22
- category: Space & Aerospace

The rocket worked. The mission didn't. NASA is betting its lunar return on iterative hardware development — and so far only SpaceX has proved it scales.

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