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Well looks like you imposed a qualification on these types of flights and now by definition they cannot deliver payload. The flights could deliver cheap payloa

• AlessandroF6587 2y ago
  "The payload is data." Elon The data they get from the test and they focus on getting the most and most valuable data. This is an explicit choice. A physical payload at this stage would reduce the overall value that they are able to get from a flight.
• cwillu 2y ago
  You can't deliver a payload to orbit if you're not planning on going to orbit. They have a launch licence for a particular mission plan. The license for Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy specifically says “Authorization: SpaceX is authorized to conduct flights of launch vehicles: […] (c) Transporting Dragon 2 to low Earth orbit or a payload to orbit;” The license for Starship/Super Heavy Launch Vehicle does not include such an authorization. https://www.faa.gov/media/69476 https://www.faa.gov/media/69476 https://www.faa.gov/media/75501 https://www.faa.gov/media/75501