Re:Tesla announces biggest quarterly loss
by csours on Wednesday February 07, 2018 @07:53PM
(#16329313)
TANSTAAFL - There ain't no such thing as a free launch.
Certainly someone paid for the launch. I think it was a super clever play.
Re:Tesla announces biggest quarterly loss
by mstank on Wednesday February 07, 2018 @08:31PM
(#16329469)
I guess the US Government / Air-force, and other launch customers paid for the launch since they have active Falcon Heavy contracts with SpaceX. This test was part of the certification process.
I'm pretty sure that Tesla didn't pay anything for the advertising. It was Elon's own Roadster. If you look closely, the Tesla logo wasn't included in the Falcon Heavy launch promotional video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk338VXcb24
Surely it was the cheapest, no? Tesla spent ~$0 for a huge amount of global advertising.
SpaceX was already going to spend the money for the launch and the media has given what is effectively free advertising covering the historic event.