Comment Re:They have to keep sending them up (Score 4, Insightful) 50
Because they eventually come back down. That is a huge problem because it becomes a very large Capital cost to keep starlink in business.
Oh no, did no one at SpaceX realize that Low Earth Orbit is not permanent and they will have to replace satellites over time?
They have already built a constellation of 10k. As some of the first ones are deorbiting, they are still launching new ones at a rate that the constellation is still growing. Yet somehow they are making money. With the recent S1 filing we have our best view into SpaceX finances. $11.4 billion in Starlink revenue. $4.4 billion in operating income. Even after accounting for massive capex that is the constellation they had somewhere around $2 freaking billion in free cash flow from their Starlink segment. It is a bloody cash cow while they are replacing deorbiting satellites and expanding. Will only get better when they if they ever reach the point where they are not expanding the constellation. Even more betters if they ever get Starship working operationally.
People get so excited about a reusable rocket but like I've mentioned before I could keep my old 94 Honda Accord running if I really really wanted to but past a certain point it cost more to keep it running than it was worth. There is a reason why NASA gave up on reusable rockets and that's it. You can't put something under that much stress and keep sending it up into space over and over again without a shit ton of expensive maintenance and if you skip the maintenance the rockets just blow up and if you don't skip the maintenance you might as well have just built another rocket.
There is a monstrous gulf between keeping a piece of hardware running forever and replacing the hardware after a single use. You don't buy a new Accord after a single run to the grocery store.
There are three Falcon 9 boosters now over 30 launches. Ten over 20. No one think reusuability means you have to fly a booster past the point of economic sense. SpaceX is far from finding that limit.
The thing I keep seeing though is the faithful don't show up on this website or any other forum that isn't heavily moderated to prevent them from seeing wrong think. The right wing has completely retreated into safe spaces and anyone who is still on board with Elon Musk has joined those safe spaces and the right wing with them because they pretty much have to protect themselves from reality in order to see Elon Musk as anything but a skeezy grifter getting ready to steal their retirement money.
I am literally laughing. The I hate Elon therefore I must hate on anything SpaceX does crowd are legendary for their inability to back up their statement and hiding behind shadow bans and blocklists. They hate facts. SpaceX fans are on every social platform loudly flying the flag. Hell, many are so enthusiastic about it a common thing is, "I hate SpaceX because their fanboys are everywhere." Saying they hide in their own communities is absurd.