Falcon 9 isn't big enough to give Starlink the full constellation they've requested permission for. They first receieved permission for 12,000, and later requ

Falcon 9 isn't big enough to give Starlink the full constellation they've requested permission for. They first receieved permission for 12,000, and later requested an additional 30,000, or 42,000 total. Right now they have... less than 4,000, less than a tenth of what they want. So it will just take a few more years of Falcon 9 launches, right? Well, probably not. Because these satellites have a limited lifespan, they need to be constantly launching new satellites to replace older satellites. I don't think they can launch and keep anywhere close to 42,000 satellites operational with Falcon 9. They only get a bit more than 50 satellites per Falcon 9 launch. Even though Falcon 9 is cheap, to launch the full constellation would require several times more Falcon 9 launches than all the launches for every customer in the past combined. Long-term, Starlink is doomed to failure if SpaceX doesn't get Starship operational. FWIW, I also believe talk of Mars colonization is a recruiting scheme, and the true raison d'etre of Starship is to launch Starlink and similar large constellations. Solving this problem is what Starship is for, and without it they're toast.