Two aspects in favor of mini-starships 1. economies of scale: if you manufacture 12 engines smaller by a factor of 10, the total manufacturing cost is not goin

Two aspects in favor of mini-starships 1. economies of scale: if you manufacture 12 engines smaller by a factor of 10, the total manufacturing cost is not going to be 20% higher, but most likely 2-3 times lower. 2. engineering knowledge: more smaller engines means more engineers. Some of whom would leave to start their own startups, or to join Blue Origin, or Skunkworks, or some other aerospace company. That's not necessarily good for SpaceX, but it's good for humankind. Maybe some would go and fix Boeing's problems :)