system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: NASA's announcement today. What is Boeing and SpaceX and why is it all important?
gpt
Boeing is a major aerospace company, meaning they make spacecraft (and airplanes but let's stick with spacecraft), but they make them for governments. SpaceX is a newer company that is trying to manufacture reusable spacecraft that are affordable to private businesses.

Two important parts: Right now, the US doesn't have a space shuttle, so we have to rely on other countries to get our astronauts up to the space station. Since the country we've relied on is Russia and things are a little awkward right now, we're kind of stuck on the ground. So having a SpaceX craft operated by private companies would restore our ability to send our own astronauts up.

Second: think about the discovery and development of the New World. The original expeditions were funded by governments -- Spain, England, The Netherlands, etc. It wasn't until privately funded expeditions started heading out that it became possible to have long term colonies and regular trade between the Old and New Worlds.

Same thing with space. Once it's affordable for non-governmental entities to send missions and people up there, then we'll start to see things like bases on the Moon and Mars, mining of asteroids, much more extensive exploration, etc., and all of those things have enormous benefits both down here on Earth and for the future of humankind.