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> Elon has control and optimizes for cool shit and going to Mars This trope needs to die. SpaceX has no plans to go to Mars. Elon meanwhile regularly says forw

by khriss 5mo ago

> Elon has control and optimizes for cool shit and going to Mars This trope needs to die. SpaceX has no plans to go to Mars. Elon meanwhile regularly says forward looking stuff to attempt to justify the lofty valuations of his companies. Let's just say there is a ... mixed track record on these proclamations (Full self driving, Hyperloop anyone?)

ralfd 5mo ago
This trope has to die. SpaceX Starship design is optimized for Mars (instead of Blue Origin NG) and the gigantic Starship Factory and multiple launch pads under construction in Texas, Florida and Louisiana (plus potentially foreign countries) only make sense with Mars.
- ben_w 5mo ago
  While yes, I agree Mars appears to have been Musk's long term goals: > the gigantic Starship Factory and multiple launch pads under construction in Texas, Florida and Louisiana (plus potentially foreign countries) only make sense with Mars. There's a few other things that also make sense as use-cases for that infrastructure. Orbital manufacturing is already starting to get interesting. I don't want to bet either way on space-based data centres, the research I've seen from Google says that makes sense at $200/kg which Starship can only reach if SpaceX solves re-use and that's clearly difficult but I don't want to say impossible.
- jauntywundrkind 5mo ago
  Or the attempt to Kessler Syndrome and Neuromancer it up as fast as possible by trying to send up 1m satellites. https://spacenews.com/spacex-files-plans-for-million-satellite-orbital-data-center-constellation/ https://spacenews.com/spacex-files-plans-for-million-satelli...
  - OutOfHere 5mo ago
    I don't think these will be in Earth orbit. I think they will be in Sol's orbit.
- khriss 5mo ago
  And how exactly is SpaceX going to make any meaningful ROI on getting Mars orbit capability? It's not like people and govt's are raring to get there. Scientific organizations like NASA would jump on a Mars Starship in a heartbeat, but how many missions will they want? SpaceX is a corporation first and foremost, not a research org.
  - Leonard_of_Q 5mo ago
    They're getting ROI on other ventures and uses those returns to finance their expansion towards Mars (and other planetary) orbit capacity. It may be rare to see a company looking further than the next quarterly report but it is nothing new for either SpaceX or some of Musk's other ventures.
kjksf 5mo ago
Musk just tied his compensation to having 1 million people on Mars. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/spacex-ties-musk-compensation-mars-colonization-goal-2026-04-28/ https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulat... Do explain to me his evil plan of becoming rich by lying about going to Mars and yet agreeing to only get paid when he does go to Mars.
- righthand 5mo ago
  Does Elon need the money though or does Elon need the valuation? Do you think he actually needs that paycheck to actually happen?
- miltonlost 5mo ago
  *part of his compensation The rest of his compensation isn't tied to that, but is tied to the bubble and hype that the lie of Mars living helps prop up.
- funimpoded 5mo ago
  > yet agreeing to only get paid when he does go to Mars. He already owns hundreds of billions of dollars worth of SpaceX. He "gets paid" whether or not these goals are achieved (a million people on mars definitely won't be achieved this century, as the place is fucking awful; one thousand is vanishingly unlikely, one million is flat-out not happening). In fact, hyping the company up ahead of IPO gets him paid, to the tune of thousands of working people's lifetime earnings.
  - sgc 5mo ago
    Subterfuge so simple it is designed to target only the most foolish.
  - randerson 5mo ago
    > a million people on mars definitely won't be achieved this century, as the place is fucking awful Mars could make for an interesting prison, though. Like the Australia of two centuries ago. If nobody volunteers to live there I wouldn't put it past Musk to meet his target that way.
randallsquared 5mo ago
Elon put out a musing akin to a blog post on Hyperloop.
trunkiedozer 5mo ago
FSD is awesome on hw4!

by khriss 5mo ago

ralfd 5mo ago

This trope has to die. SpaceX Starship design is optimized for Mars (instead of Blue Origin NG) and the gigantic Starship Factory and multiple launch pads under construction in Texas, Florida and Louisiana (plus potentially foreign countries) only make sense with Mars.

ben_w 5mo ago
While yes, I agree Mars appears to have been Musk's long term goals: > the gigantic Starship Factory and multiple launch pads under construction in Texas, Florida and Louisiana (plus potentially foreign countries) only make sense with Mars. There's a few other things that also make sense as use-cases for that infrastructure. Orbital manufacturing is already starting to get interesting. I don't want to bet either way on space-based data centres, the research I've seen from Google says that makes sense at $200/kg which Starship can only reach if SpaceX solves re-use and that's clearly difficult but I don't want to say impossible.
jauntywundrkind 5mo ago
Or the attempt to Kessler Syndrome and Neuromancer it up as fast as possible by trying to send up 1m satellites. https://spacenews.com/spacex-files-plans-for-million-satellite-orbital-data-center-constellation/ https://spacenews.com/spacex-files-plans-for-million-satelli...
- OutOfHere 5mo ago
  I don't think these will be in Earth orbit. I think they will be in Sol's orbit.
khriss 5mo ago
And how exactly is SpaceX going to make any meaningful ROI on getting Mars orbit capability? It's not like people and govt's are raring to get there. Scientific organizations like NASA would jump on a Mars Starship in a heartbeat, but how many missions will they want? SpaceX is a corporation first and foremost, not a research org.
- Leonard_of_Q 5mo ago
  They're getting ROI on other ventures and uses those returns to finance their expansion towards Mars (and other planetary) orbit capacity. It may be rare to see a company looking further than the next quarterly report but it is nothing new for either SpaceX or some of Musk's other ventures.

kjksf 5mo ago

Musk just tied his compensation to having 1 million people on Mars. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/spacex-ties-musk-compensation-mars-colonization-goal-2026-04-28/ https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulat... Do explain to me his evil plan of becoming rich by lying about going to Mars and yet agreeing to only get paid when he does go to Mars.

righthand 5mo ago
Does Elon need the money though or does Elon need the valuation? Do you think he actually needs that paycheck to actually happen?
miltonlost 5mo ago
*part of his compensation The rest of his compensation isn't tied to that, but is tied to the bubble and hype that the lie of Mars living helps prop up.
funimpoded 5mo ago
> yet agreeing to only get paid when he does go to Mars. He already owns hundreds of billions of dollars worth of SpaceX. He "gets paid" whether or not these goals are achieved (a million people on mars definitely won't be achieved this century, as the place is fucking awful; one thousand is vanishingly unlikely, one million is flat-out not happening). In fact, hyping the company up ahead of IPO gets him paid, to the tune of thousands of working people's lifetime earnings.
- sgc 5mo ago
  Subterfuge so simple it is designed to target only the most foolish.
- randerson 5mo ago
  > a million people on mars definitely won't be achieved this century, as the place is fucking awful Mars could make for an interesting prison, though. Like the Australia of two centuries ago. If nobody volunteers to live there I wouldn't put it past Musk to meet his target that way.

randallsquared 5mo ago

Elon put out a musing akin to a blog post on Hyperloop.

trunkiedozer 5mo ago

FSD is awesome on hw4!