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"Talk about an economic moat -- to compete on margin you'd first have to become a rocket company. And not just a rocket company but one who has technology to re
by nordsieck 9y ago
"Talk about an economic moat -- to compete on margin you'd first have to become a rocket company. And not just a rocket company but one who has technology to re-use rockets, which likely is a ways away from becoming replicated, nevermind commoditized to the point where it evaporates from costs."
It's even worse than that. SpaceX is using micro satellites for its network; they can launch them for "free" (just the cost of extra fuel) as a secondary payload on any of their launches where there is excess cargo capacity.
- tankenmate 9y agoThey'll need to predominantly do them on polar missions, in 2017 SpaceX had only 5 polar missions. Also, for missions that are already launching large numbers of satellites (like Iridium flights; 4 of the 5 polar missions in 2017 were for Iridium) this may be harder as it will require more fuel and a relight after an extended mission in its primary payload orbit. EDIT: grammar fix
- nordsieck 9y agoI don't think they're going to launch anywhere close to even 1/10 their network this way; there are too few scheduled launches and too many satellites in their planned network, even if they were able to overcome the technical obstacles you mention. Depending on the margins they earn, the few (if any) they launch this way may be a meaningful cost savings.
- jagger27 9y agoBut in the specific case of launch padding, another microsat company could just as easily buy that same extra capacity from SpaceX. Sure, that's assuming SpaceX doesn't cram every launch to the max. There's also the opportunity to cross-shop a bit with other launch systems.