Re:U.S. senators propose 25% tax credit for semiconductor ma...
by ethbr0 on Sunday June 20, 2021 @01:11PM
(#27571960)
The best way to look at it, IMHO, is from the demand side.
Q: Why has space technology remained fairly stagnant?
A: Because the economic demand to fund improvements hasn't existed.
We look at the market and say "But all those satellites! Surely they could pay for it." But that's underestimating (a) the cost of development (HUGE! And there's a low-quantity of launches to amortize over) & (b) the value of incremental improvement (negligible, as most current customers aren't cost sensitive).
That's SpaceX's real genius. Reusability isn't a competitive advantage unless it coincides with increased demand. Demand which they themselves seeded via the StarLink constellation.
Q: Why has space technology remained fairly stagnant?
A: Because the economic demand to fund improvements hasn't existed.
We look at the market and say "But all those satellites! Surely they could pay for it." But that's underestimating (a) the cost of development (HUGE! And there's a low-quantity of launches to amortize over) & (b) the value of incremental improvement (negligible, as most current customers aren't cost sensitive).
That's SpaceX's real genius. Reusability isn't a competitive advantage unless it coincides with increased demand. Demand which they themselves seeded via the StarLink constellation.