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I cant say I'm a fan of Elon but he got it right with SpaceX. Space is expensive, stupidly expensive. There was zero chance SpaceX would've been able to survive
by esskay 2y ago
I cant say I'm a fan of Elon but he got it right with SpaceX. Space is expensive, stupidly expensive. There was zero chance SpaceX would've been able to survive this long if they'd not focused on profits. Reusable rockets brought general launch costs down by millions, reusable farings even more (people underestimate how much they cost. $6 million a pair. At ~$62 million a launch thats a fairly sizable chunk of money to be throwing away).
Starlink was a fantastic way to ensure long term high profitability, and is set to bring them $6.6bn this year alone. For some context the Falcon 9 development costs were estimated by Nasa to be around $300 million, and Starship's development is estimated to going to have cost anywhere from $5-$10 billion by the time its fully operational.
Starlink's profitability is what's going to make it possible for some monumentally huge projects once Starship is in full swing.
In terms of Elons involvement in SpaceX it does seem to be a bit more than just a money making venture for him.
- refulgentis 2y agoThis comment is misleading, unintentionally of course. The comment starts out with "long term high profitability", then offers "bring them 6.6B", and the central proposition of the comment is extremely high Starlink profits allows for free moonshots. 6.6B is a recent revenue projection, not profit.[1] Their finance people say it's unprofitable, still. (off the record) [2] Rooting for them and it will be profitable IMHO, but I've never heard any reporting it's profitable. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/1co60j0/starlink_soars_spacexs_satellite_internet/ https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/1co60j0/starl... [2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-04-10/is-elon-musk-s-starlink-profitable-spacex-satellites-are-money-losers?sref=1uqnIA7D&embedded-checkout=true https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-04-10/is-elon-m...
- boringg 2y agoSpacex still burning investor cash hence the capital raise recently on the backs of another capital raise. Building rockets is a great way to burn capital and also the end product, when working, is a great goal for humanity.
- adastra22 2y agoA big chunk of these investment rounds are tender offers for employees looking to cash out.
- dylan604 2y agoI don't get the same sense from it you do. It looks to me like they realized they needed more income than launches could get them in the time they needed. Rather than solely depending on investors, they came up with a business that plays to their strength that can be a steady/recurring source of income to be less dependent on investors. I don't see SpaceX so focused on profiting from Starlink that they've lost any momentum towards any of the other SpaceX plans. From where I sit, it looks like a pretty smart play on their part. It also just happens to be a very beneficial service that so many other players in the market refused to do.
- refulgentis 2y ago"SpaceX’s prized Starlink satellite business is still burning through more cash than it brings in" has a fairly plain meaning! And it's that it's not profitable. I'm not sure I have any sense at all other than relaying content. :)
- dylan604 2y agoWhen I read that, I thought it was referring to SpaceX in general not Starlink specific. Reading comprehension let me down yet again
- edgyquant 2y agoBut Starlink is profitable so you’re whole point is wrong
- refulgentis 2y agoSource? Note: I don't have a point, I'm just relying content! Note #2: *your