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The addressable market for space flight isn't as large as it will be yet. However, unlike software where coporations get a bye on this problem because the capit
by InTheArena 9y ago
The addressable market for space flight isn't as large as it will be yet. However, unlike software where coporations get a bye on this problem because the capital expense for consumers or others to adopt a given technology is low, the cost to companies to adopt technology like SpaceXs is really really high.
So far, we are not seeing a ton of new types of traffic that just would not be feasible where it not due to SpaceX's lower launch cost.
I think that will come, but it will come with the LEO based communication satellite fleet, and that is still a ways out.
- bluGill 9y agoTo be fair, it takes time and money to build the new traffic SpaceX has not been low cost for long enough to enable the new markets. I would suggest if all the new markets had the correct foresight and built their satellites for launch starting now SpaceX would be forced to refuse a lot of customers (probably by raising prices until they are not low cost) since they can't make/reuse rockets fast enough yet. Note that I specified correct foresight above. I'm confident that some things will be launch on the now cheaper rockets over the next 20 years that turn our to be commercial failures. I don't know which they are though, just that they are. If you have an idea that might work with a cheaper launch you should start building it, but you should start small to prove it can work.