[rnk]

Yes, Falcon 9 and Starlink are each separately enough to keep space x in business. One easy observation is that company are trying to support themselves with only sat internet. Also companies are trying to support themselves by "only" being a rocket launch for hire. SpaceX is beating all of those. So yeah, they have a business.

[robonerd]

Maybe SpaceX could survive as a satellite launch company using Falcon 9, but if we accept the premise of Elon Musk funding this company to go to Mars, would he continue to provide that funding if plans for the Mars missions go up in smoke?

As for Starlink's commercial viability, it seems reasonable enough if they can launch hundreds of satellites at once with a cheap fully-reusable rocket. Right now they can't do that, they can only use a semi-reusable rocket that launches tens of satellites at a time. So far they've used this to launch 2000+ satellites, which is impressive, but is that enough? I don't think so, because they've received approval for 12,000 and sought approval for 30,000. What they've launched thusfar with Falcon 9 seems to only be a small fraction of what they want. The constellation isn't a one-time expense either; it requires constant upkeep because these satellites are low and only last a few years.

I think they've been making do with what they have, knowing that Starship will be necessary to make the business work in the full scale / long term.

> Also companies are trying to support themselves by "only" being a rocket launch for hire.

Well that's the other thing isn't it? SpaceX is very invested in designing rockets, but doesn't seem to give a shit about colony technology. Doesn't that seem odd to you? Elon Musk constantly talks about going to Mars, but isn't interested in actually developing a Mars colony. Instead he'll leave that part to other groups, and focus on making the spaceship that will get them there. In other words, he's building a bridge to nowhere and is counting on somebody else building the destination required for his bridge to make sense. For a man who supposedly endeavors for Mars, this seems absurd. Instead of buying twitter, he could be throwing tens of billions of dollars at colony R&D. But he isn't.

I don't think Starship is for going to Mars. I think it's for rapidly launching and replenishing large constellations of satellites. Probably for military purposes.