[mnau]

I think they will want to deal with heatshield first. As of now, it hasn't survived deorbiting.

SpaceX can launch satellites using Falcon9 and do it routinely. Starship needs to be developed and reach milestones, so they can get paid by NASA. Having a payload is a complication (unless it's a fun payload, remember the roadster car :D)

[cwillu]

The next block of starship has altered flap geometry that should largely fix that.

[laverya]

I think they can probably do both at once - heatshield testing and pez dispenser testing shouldn't interfere with each other, so might as well use whatever spare upmass you have!

Yeah you might lose the payload, but SpaceX has the cheapest satellites in the business from what I understand.

[93po]

i hope the next dummy payload is a giant 2 story tall anime figurine, knowing musk it's not out of the question