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It feels weird that I pay some small SaaS products more than this. You'd think slinging a few hundred satellites into space would be a more difficult / expensiv
by reustle 6y ago
It feels weird that I pay some small SaaS products more than this. You'd think slinging a few hundred satellites into space would be a more difficult / expensive endeavor.
- boardwaalk 6y agoSpaceX is way in the red on this right now. But I'm sure they've done the math on how much profit they can extract from the constellation in the long term.
- swarnie_ 6y agoYep - Profit and loss are pretty much meaningless while investors are still willingly to fling cash at them faster then they can spend it.
- shaklee3 6y agoIt is. The antennas are heavily subsidized to get that $500 price point.
- nickik 6y agoWe don't actually know that. There was one unknown source who once said it was some number X but the reliability of that claim is highly questionable.
- shaklee3 6y agoWe do know that. We know how much phased array costs, and many experts in that area have said so. Shotwell and musk both have said getting the terminal cost down is their biggest challenge. They wouldn't say that if it was $500.
- rlt 6y agoCorrection: We know how much phased array antennas produced by other companies have historically sold for. They’re not commodities with uniform costs.
- shaklee3 6y agoNo, they are commodity and we know how much they cost. SpaceX hasn't magically solved somehow decreasing the price of components they don't even make. They are paying over $1000 for a terminal.
- rlt 6y agoCool, can you link me to the BOM cost analysis you’re referring to?
- shaklee3 6y agoSure! You mean every phased array that's ever been built? I suppose you have the BOM for the starlink terminal that spacex themselves have said is too expensive? I guess the fact that musk is behind it means the cost is magic and you can discount all prior technology, right?