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At one point in time, the United Launch Alliance (ULA) - infamous for partially enforcing a monopoly over US launch markets and relying on old but proven technology - was actively pursuing advanced tech that could eventually enable orbital propellant depots and create what was described as a "cislunar economy".
Led in large part by former Vice President of Advanced Programs George Sowers (2006-2012, 2015-2017), ULA has pursued orbital refueling and propellant depots for the better part of a decade. //
Apparently, after he began a renewed push for propellant depots and reusable upper stages in 2015, Boeing quite literally tried to have him fired, clearly taking the depot concept as a direct threat to a big slice of pork: NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage (booster) contract. //
"Senator [Richard] Shelby [R - AL] called NASA and said if he hears one more word about propellant depots, he’s going to cancel [NASA's] space technology program." //
NASA has spent more than $2B annually on SLS alone in FYs 2017, 2018, and 2019, accounting - as of October 2019 - for nearly $6.5B spent on SLS in the last three years alone. SLS funding is likely to be increased yet again by Congress in FY2020. Since the Constellation Program's (2005-2010) Ares V rocket was rebirthed as the SLS program in 2011, NASA has spent more than $16B on the rocket alone, while its launch debut has slipped more than 4 years (late 2017 to late 2021). //
Whatever the end result, Sowers' blunt description of how Boeing (and SLS) have stunted US spaceflight innovation for years is simultaneously depressing and unsurprising, but serves as an extremely rare instance of candor from a former executive of a traditional US aerospace company.