Starlink is mostly a bet on Starship. If they can actually get big reductions in cost to LEO, the cost of maintaining a large satellite constellation goes way d

Starlink is mostly a bet on Starship. If they can actually get big reductions in cost to LEO, the cost of maintaining a large satellite constellation goes way down —- the capital cost of building each satellite is in the five-figure range, and the really expensive part is launching them. (Which, as you mentioned, they need to keep doing constantly as the older satellites are de-orbited.)