How are they defining Deep Space?
I would have guessed that meant Intergalactic Space, but I’m pretty sure that’s not on our current “to-do” list.
If they mean going to Mars, that doesn’t seem all that Deep to me.
Of course, America was once focused on the old “Northwest Territory” which was basically Ohio. So sometimes terms change their meaning as you go further out.
In spaceflight, deep space is generally accepted as being anything beyond earth orbit. The problem here is that Boeing is trying to compare apples and oranges. Elon Musk has stated himself that he no longer intends to man rate the Falcon Heavy, it’s not trying to compete with SLS. It DOES blow Boeing/ULA’s Delta IV Heavy out of the water and will directly compete for payloads that would have normally only had the option of flying on Delta IV Heavy. It can lift twice as much for a fraction of the cost of a Delta IV Heavy, even in fully expendable mode.
BFR is going to be man rated and compete with SLS, even if SpaceX isn’t admitting that yet. Oh, and just for book keeping purposes, for the 10 billion dollars spent on SLS development up to the end of 2017, not counting infrastructure costs like pad and crawler upgrades, you could have fully funded the development of Falcon Heavy and then had enough left over to buy 63 flights on Falcon Heavy in fully expendable mode. That’s enough lifting capability to send about 1 million kg of payload to Mars. Just saying.