The falcon 9 absolutely did cut the balls off of cost to orbit. Once they cleared the backlog of launches that had built up due to the cost and slow turnaround they had nothing to launch. Starlink is their main customer and without them the Falcon 9 architecture doesn’t have the cadence required to be profitable. Starship is the new solution in need of a problem, so what’s the problem? Data centers in space! I think they’re right up against the rocket equation with starship and they’re counting on trimming the fat to make it work. We’ll see which dies first, physics or finances.
The falcon 9 absolutely did cut the balls off of cost to orbit. Once they cleared the backlog of launches that had built up due to the cost and slow turnaround they had nothing to launch. Starlink is their main customer and without them the Falcon 9 architecture doesn’t have the cadence required to be profitable. Starship is the new solution in need of a problem, so what’s the problem? Data centers in space! I think they’re right up against the rocket equation with starship and they’re counting on trimming the fat to make it work. We’ll see which dies first, physics or finances.
Interesting. Why haven’t new space customers turned up now that launches are far cheaper?
I don’t know. Maybe because the main use of space is research and the military and there’s only so much of either?