3 ms·

Well, it is demand they created themselves. It also has a path to being so wildly profitable it probably exceeds all the other revenue from space by all other c

Well, it is demand they created themselves. It also has a path to being so wildly profitable it probably exceeds all the other revenue from space by all other companies put together. It has been known since the 60's that if launch rates go way up, the cost per launch can be made to go way down. It has been known since the 90's that there is market for a massive internet constellation, but it won't be profitable at current launch prices. Neither problem could be solved, because they depended on each other, and required massive, tens-of-billions-of-dollars level of investment. You can't really spend big money to make a very efficient launch system that is not suitable for current market and hope that customers will come. And you cannot really spend big money to build the infrastructure to turn out satellites like cars when the launch costs would still sink the whole project. SpaceX managed to collect enough private funding, that they could do tackle both problems at the same time. If they succeed, they will be the most profitable aerospace company the world has ever seen. Which is probably why they have so little trouble raising the funding.

hef19898 6y ago
Then we agree to disagree. SpaceX is private funding, Ariane Space and others government contracts. Which SpaceX is also getting, by the way. To me, Starlink is for SpaceX what self-driving taxis are for Tesla. And whether Starlink is actually profitable, after SpaceX moved that question on to them, can be further pushed out by raising VC money for Starlink. This plays on so many levels, every VC pumped start-up plays this with so many markets and competitors. Maybe money really is to cheap and plenty full in general since 2008.
- Tuna-Fish 6y ago
  > To me, Starlink is for SpaceX what self-driving taxis are for Tesla. The difference is that self-driving taxis is very clearly in the far future, with major technical and regulatory hurdles, whereas Starlink, while still in the beta, now has tens of thousands of paying customers in a dozen countries, and more are added constantly. Given that the user terminals work, the satellites work, and they seem to be executing well in scaling the system, it's very hard to see a future where it won't be wildly profitable.
nickik 6y ago
SpaceX tackled started re-usability before Starlink and they had figured it out before Starlink launches even started. Even without Starlink SpaceX would have done re-usability. The claim that they are linked is simply not correct. SpaceX was totally convinced of re-usability and said it was a huge benefit to them before Starlink. All the leaders of SpaceX said this public-ally, Elon, Shotwell, Mueller and Königsman. Multiple analysts and cost estimations have also indicated that their savings are quite large. Yet I guess some people rather believe everybody in SpaceX is simply laying and all these analysts are wrong because they rather believe the competitors of SpaceX.

hef19898 6y ago

Then we agree to disagree. SpaceX is private funding, Ariane Space and others government contracts. Which SpaceX is also getting, by the way. To me, Starlink is for SpaceX what self-driving taxis are for Tesla. And whether Starlink is actually profitable, after SpaceX moved that question on to them, can be further pushed out by raising VC money for Starlink. This plays on so many levels, every VC pumped start-up plays this with so many markets and competitors. Maybe money really is to cheap and plenty full in general since 2008.

Tuna-Fish 6y ago
> To me, Starlink is for SpaceX what self-driving taxis are for Tesla. The difference is that self-driving taxis is very clearly in the far future, with major technical and regulatory hurdles, whereas Starlink, while still in the beta, now has tens of thousands of paying customers in a dozen countries, and more are added constantly. Given that the user terminals work, the satellites work, and they seem to be executing well in scaling the system, it's very hard to see a future where it won't be wildly profitable.

nickik 6y ago

SpaceX tackled started re-usability before Starlink and they had figured it out before Starlink launches even started. Even without Starlink SpaceX would have done re-usability. The claim that they are linked is simply not correct. SpaceX was totally convinced of re-usability and said it was a huge benefit to them before Starlink. All the leaders of SpaceX said this public-ally, Elon, Shotwell, Mueller and Königsman. Multiple analysts and cost estimations have also indicated that their savings are quite large. Yet I guess some people rather believe everybody in SpaceX is simply laying and all these analysts are wrong because they rather believe the competitors of SpaceX.