[manuelabeledo]

> Starlink service is so obviously phenomenal to anyone who's used it, this isn't going to change that or effect SpaceX's success one bit.

Starlink success, and to that extent, SpaceX, are arguably tied to government money.

I would say that not getting almost $1B may impact their operations quite a bit.

[rapsey]

VCs are falling over themselves trying to get in on SpaceX. If there were to go public they would immediately be worth hundreds of billions. It will likely be one of the biggest IPOs in history. They are not that strapped for cash.

[manuelabeledo]

Then what's the deal with government funds?

For a company that doesn't need money, they seem quite upset that they aren't getting much of it.

[inemesitaffia]

When your competition gets funds and you don't it puts you at a disadvantage.

You can see NEVI as an example.

[rpmisms]

"Oh look, free money to provide the service we're already providing"

[sangnoir]

> They are not that strapped for cash.

Exactly - because they were/are getting boatloads of cash from the government. There is no shame in that.

[inemesitaffia]

No they haven't as you can read in this article

[bryanlarsen]

Starlink has 2 million customers, likely with >$1000 ARPU and is growing quite rapidly. $1B annually would be material. $1B as a one time payment is significant but seems unlikely to affect viability. Musk has said that Starship and Starlink are each $5B-$10B investments.

[manuelabeledo]

> Starlink has 2 million customers, likely with >$1000 ARPU and is growing quite rapidly. $1B annually would be material.

This suggests that they are in the black, which they are not. They are losing a lot of money.

[bryanlarsen]

SpaceX was profitable last quarter.

https://www.reuters.com/business/elon-musks-spacex-turns-pro...

[grecy]

> Starlink success, and to that extent, SpaceX, are arguably tied to government money.

Citation please.

The government are paying SpaceX as a customer, they're not giving them free money.

Also note they're paying them a lot less than they pay ULA for the same things

[jrflowers]

This is a good point. So long as you define “government money” as “something other than money from the government”, SpaceX does not rely on government money.

You can see that this is true with other businesses as well, no business relies on getting “customer money” because “customer money” means when customers donate to you in exchange for nothing, not money that they pay in exchange for goods or services.

[sinuhe69]

Of course by government money, the OP meant subsidization and other form of direct money incentives, not paying for fair and square services.