Originally Posted by
rickair7777
Bearing in mind that when NASA does it, they still contract out most of the hardware, they're just more involved in development.
It's always been that way. Go pick up a copy of
Lost Moon (Lovell) or
Never Panic Early (Haise) and you'll see all sorts of aerospace companies (many names now history due to mergers and acquisitions over the years) that were central in producing the machinery used in the space programs.