Unproven technology, public funding, and Triton's risk

The argument for public research funding here starts with the difficulty of persuading shareholders to finance a completely unproven idea. Spaceflight supplies an example of governments developing capabilities before companies could present investors with a credible prospect of returns. DARPA's tolerance for unsuccessful projects extends that argument to research whose commercial value remains uncertain. Applied to Triton, the immediate benefit was naval capability, with no subsequent fleet of civilian submarine tankers or container ships. The voyage also carried the possibility that the boat could strike an underwater obstruction and disappear despite having two reactors.