4 ms·

$80 million in costs already outside of the purchase of terminals. Right there in your article.

CogitoCogito 4y ago
Yes the article quotes Musk’s claim that this has cost SpaceX $80 million. Many outsiders think that number is complete bullshit. Unless SpaceX plans on releasing its internal accounting, it might just come down to whether you consider Musk trustworthy. I personally find it a bit odd that Musk would suddenly publicly make these demands instead of just having SpaceX call their contacts in the DOD. I presume it makes the DOD question future involvement with companies controlled by Musk.
- ganoushoreilly 4y ago
  I would counter that I bet they have been having these discussions for some time and this is all being used to sway opinion against him. Like him or not, the cool thing now is to hate on musk and worry about what could happen with twitter and this helps build that negative sentiment. The state department doesn't benefit from that transaction either and the federal government poking at him over the deal has left as sour taste i'm sure. From the outside the only fact we can ascertain is that we know his services are not net 0 in cost, so by that assumption any expense is one he can argue he deserves support on.
  - CogitoCogito 4y ago
    > I would counter that I bet they have been having these discussions for some time and this is all being used to sway opinion against him. Like him or not, the cool thing now is to hate on musk and worry about what could happen with twitter and this helps build that negative sentiment. The state department doesn't benefit from that transaction either and the federal government poking at him over the deal has left as sour taste i'm sure. Well like I said it all basically comes down to whether you consider Musk trustworthy. Personally I see a him as a grandstanding, lying charlatan. This is a belief I've held for many years long before you say it now has become the cool thing. But I don't run the DOD and only watch this from the sidelines. We'll just have to see how the the DOD and other portions of the government react. > From the outside the only fact we can ascertain is that we know his services are not net 0 in cost, so by that assumption any expense is one he can argue he deserves support on. This is a bit of a straw man. I haven't heard anyone argue that he must give out services for free. The criticism I've heard has been to question the actual numbers Musk has provided and the way he's gone about doing it.
phillipcarter 4y ago
$80 million isn't a bunch of money for Musk/SpaceX, but really that's besides the point. This isn't a freebie he gave out from the goodness of his heart, despite what many of his fans believe.
rurp 4y ago
It was a very effective amount of marketing spend. He and the company got a ton of positive publicity for this and you can see how quickly he's trying to minimize the costs.

Yes the article quotes Musk’s claim that this has cost SpaceX $80 million. Many outsiders think that number is complete bullshit. Unless SpaceX plans on releasing its internal accounting, it might just come down to whether you consider Musk trustworthy. I personally find it a bit odd that Musk would suddenly publicly make these demands instead of just having SpaceX call their contacts in the DOD. I presume it makes the DOD question future involvement with companies controlled by Musk.

ganoushoreilly 4y ago
I would counter that I bet they have been having these discussions for some time and this is all being used to sway opinion against him. Like him or not, the cool thing now is to hate on musk and worry about what could happen with twitter and this helps build that negative sentiment. The state department doesn't benefit from that transaction either and the federal government poking at him over the deal has left as sour taste i'm sure. From the outside the only fact we can ascertain is that we know his services are not net 0 in cost, so by that assumption any expense is one he can argue he deserves support on.
- CogitoCogito 4y ago
  > I would counter that I bet they have been having these discussions for some time and this is all being used to sway opinion against him. Like him or not, the cool thing now is to hate on musk and worry about what could happen with twitter and this helps build that negative sentiment. The state department doesn't benefit from that transaction either and the federal government poking at him over the deal has left as sour taste i'm sure. Well like I said it all basically comes down to whether you consider Musk trustworthy. Personally I see a him as a grandstanding, lying charlatan. This is a belief I've held for many years long before you say it now has become the cool thing. But I don't run the DOD and only watch this from the sidelines. We'll just have to see how the the DOD and other portions of the government react. > From the outside the only fact we can ascertain is that we know his services are not net 0 in cost, so by that assumption any expense is one he can argue he deserves support on. This is a bit of a straw man. I haven't heard anyone argue that he must give out services for free. The criticism I've heard has been to question the actual numbers Musk has provided and the way he's gone about doing it.

phillipcarter 4y ago

$80 million isn't a bunch of money for Musk/SpaceX, but really that's besides the point. This isn't a freebie he gave out from the goodness of his heart, despite what many of his fans believe.

rurp 4y ago

It was a very effective amount of marketing spend. He and the company got a ton of positive publicity for this and you can see how quickly he's trying to minimize the costs.