First it was Starfall, not it is new short sub-orbital service. If seems the F9 crew are having some fun with new tech ... good for them, we can't the Starship crew having all the fun.
Will anyone trust this this turkey ... I assume a cargo run is next ...
Looks like they will need that depot first, then maybe 2 a week fueler launches? In any case they need a NatGas pipeline and power upgrade for an atmospheric processor to make LOX at both Starbase and the Cape. Too many trucks
Mars ... maybe not ... how about we become a cell phone service? Remember when it was Space Exploration Corp? Nope, it was all about LEO, now we are looking to set up on the ground here on Earth (although XAI/X + Cursor is about blowing $100B? on Earth surface stuff.
Well the XAI losses (which is wildly behind Gem and Clause at the moment IMHO) are not helping ... and the other lines suggest a $20B/year company through 2030. That surprise $25B bond offering dilutes the IPO as well. At least the insider still can't sell (this will be a big event when the lockup period expires). I think if you are a wild optimist this might settle down around $100 ... they really don't have any credible AI upside ... and they really are tracking with Oracle as AI "infrastructure" vs an customer facing AI service.
BTW: Given the name and 20 years of success, they have built very little that has left earth orbit (other than that F9S2 that is going to nose dive into the moon)..
Yes, just one more reason the whole SLS stack of money for 1 launch a year is a road to nowhere ... vs SX and BO efforts to build big for much, much less.
N2 and electric power gochas at the cape.
Very funky and coming up very soon. This video does a good job to lay it all out. Watch out Varda!
What LLM are you using as a patent lawyer (prosecution)?
So far paid levels of Gem and Claude seems to be the best, but their performance can vary, with good days and bad days.
Has anyone considered or deployed a local LLM?
BTW: Interesting LLM status board: https://aistupidlevel.info/
Rockefeller has a $1.2T fortune in 2026 dollars. Since the IPO means SX must chase profits (vs hobby projects) I suggest Elon now funs a Mars Development Corporation our of his personal fortune to build Mars Base components and then pay SX to place them.
Of course giving employees so much stock will allow some of the best of them to leave to maybe start up their own ventures. Glad to see some support staff becoming millionaires, just like at Amazon.
Cuts out the up front "whatever" and gets to specifics on the SX AI Sat. Elon is very sober on this one (being careful pre-IPO) and promises nothing, but its is an interesting design point. Of course SX employees are pitching the questions, so no hardballs. My hardball would have been something like "what is the 20 year equivalent compute of a rack on the ground that can be easily updated and maintained?" Most analysis is that to put this into space (for on ground use) is 10-100x more expensive.
I recall when we were hoping for 10. Just wish they put some details in the Space S-1 IPO filing like F9S1 cost per flight at 35 launches, and the number of times they needed to replace an engine. At 35 launches we are getting at $2M amortization on the first stage even if you toss in some engine replacements.
A very good summary of all the issues that Blue faces. So much will be the FAA review before they are allowed to start clearing debris.
$90M, which may be a lower price early launch price.
So, a price of under $1M/T, but more than $500K/T.
Price vs cost ... F9 list price is $4M/T but only costs SX $1M/T ... a nice 75% profit margin.
So, its maybe 75% lower price per T than F9. But with no competition as NG is out of the game until 2028 why cut it much lower?
But Starship is not about selling launches, it is about launching SpaceX built sats at $100K/T. NASA Starship projects are maybe a 10 a year, DoD 100 a year, SX internal ... 500 a year?
Of course they need to send $200M to SX for the Crew Dragon transport as well
How low can you go??? 180 km. Its a flying pipe with solar cells.
Very funky ... something to follow as I really don't get it as part of this article.
More and more Moon focus ... guess its the "race" vs China. Whatever, take it from the pure science areas.