[nordsieck]

> Wouldn't the cost of anything only significantly decrease after a second competitor becomes competitive? Why would SpaceX decrease costs further when they are already the cheapest?

That's certainly the textbook economics answer.

And yet, SpaceX has had industry leading low prices since they debuted the F9. And that was true even when they had a de facto monopoly on medium-heavy launch when both ULA and ArianeGroup discontinued their rockets without having working replacements.

As to why - I guess you'd have to ask them.

It does seem to have helped to enlarge the market. I think SpaceX does on the order of 30 non-Starlink launches every year, and a lot of those are commercial. But I think everyone recognizes that they could probably charge more, and make more money if they wanted to.