There are a few other interesting companies at the smaller scale and seem to doing fine (albeit some with hiccups and bankruptcy/reincarnation but alas, that's business). RocketLab are going great guns as are Firefly and companies like Astra and Relativity Space (cool 3d printed rockets!) are closely following the pack. It's only because of Bezos's profile and the fact it's been running for decades with no real results that make it seem SpaceX are the only ones killing it.

These are all rocket companies, I was talking about space station companies.

RocketLab, Firefly, Astra, Relativity Space are all small and have proven little. RocketLab has the most but its still a tiny rocket with a high failure rate so far. But yeah great that they exists. ABL Space belongs in that group.

I think the companies that actually want to do things in space are just as interesting and get less talked about.

I get that, but they've done more than Blue Origin already. It's looking like ULA will go for Russian engines rather than the BE-4 ones that were promised by B.O. years ago, whereas the other companies are quietly cracking on and making decent progress, considering their relative funding and resource. Some of the other companies have made actual orbital attempts too (some very close!) whereas what's B.O. done, a joyride for a few people to just past the Karman line.

SpaceX could send their Starship 2.0 (12m diameter opposed to 9, it was going to be 15m) and turn those into stations, which would seem to be a cheaper and quicker solution

> but they came out with Dragon XL.

They have at least 10 slightly used Dragon 1 capsules that, if they can be refurbished, will save them a lot of money.

> or literally build the station out of Starships.

It's entirely possible to build a module like that using a slightly modified lunar version (no heat tiles, no wings), a docking adapter at the very top and enough solar panels and radiators in the trunk to be installed on the outside. Engines could be removed and added to other vehicles for in-orbit assembly (that may be a little bit more complicated - working with pressurized gloves is not great).

In fact, I imagine a whole series of different vehicles derived from the Starship design and riding to orbit on top of the Super Heavy - non-reusable ones, simple booster and orbital tug with light, disposable fairing (and a ridiculous cargo capacity during ascent), vehicles designed to be assembled into larger structures, with inflatable modules with a centrifuges, maybe an Earth-Mars cycler...

> They have at least 10 slightly used Dragon 1 capsules that, if they can be refurbished, will save them a lot of money.

I don't think that's how Dragon XL will be built. No need for most of what is on Dragon and the wrong shape.

More likely built with the same tooling as the 2nd stage of Falcon 9 combined with the systems from Dragon Cargo (the new one).

> In fact, I imagine a whole series of different vehicles derived from the Starship design

Agree. There are lots ways you can do it. Will be interesting to see how they do it.

> Engines could be removed and added to other vehicles f

Or just bring them back to earth.

> Or just bring them back to earth.

True. Put them into the now empty cargo bay of a returning Starship and attach them to a new one.

The future seems a lot of fun again.