3 ms·
Orbit is one hell of a moat.
by delichon 8mo ago
Orbit is one hell of a moat.
- toomuchtodo 8mo agoSatellite killers are cheap and effective for nation states, if anyone ever lifts to orbit.
- delichon 8mo agoWhen they can match SpaceX's cost/kg to orbit, then it costs about as much to launch a server as to kill it, and it becomes a game of economic attrition. SpaceX can't win that game alone, but its best customer can.
- toomuchtodo 8mo agoRussia and China don’t need it to be profitable to kill orbiting assets. Profit is not the target outcome. It is a cost center. Get close, go boom. The reusability is inconsequential for kinetic use cases. The US can’t even make Patriot missiles fast enough [1]. If a nation state wanted to, they could simply kill SpaceX’s supply chain (either via targeting companies or key personnel SpaceX relies on). [1] https://www.businessinsider.com/patriot-missiles-fired-in-iran-war-stressing-strained-stockpile-2026-3 https://www.businessinsider.com/patriot-missiles-fired-in-ir...
- delichon 8mo agoRussian is highly constrained by the cost of munitions. Ukraine would not exist otherwise. If Russia or China is targeting the SpaceX supply chain then we're in WWIII, and nobody is building space ships for a long time.
- bigyabai 8mo agoOrbit is a glass castle. There's a very good reason we don't just cram everything that's valuable into LEO.
- delichon 8mo ago$/kg to orbit.