I don't know how to think of SpaceX anymore

[Lumpy]

@Stranger_On_A_Train

And regardless, there is no indication that SpaceX has done any of the really difficult work of researching and developing the technologies that would be required for even a short term outpost, much less a self-sustaining colony of tens or hundreds of thousands of people; the underlying assumption of Musk’s assertions is that they just need to transport people and resources to the surface of Mars.

As I mentioned, they’re not going to start pouring money into that until they’re sure there’s a point to doing so. At worst, the first stages of a Mars base could consist of basically operating the ISS on Mars’ surface, 100% dependent on consumables shipped from Earth. That could continue either until the technologies needed are developed or until they give up.

@Stranger_On_A_Train

As for how cheap ‘Starship’ will make things…well, we’ve still never seen so much as an accounting statement from SpaceX much less actual development and operating budgets, and the fact that they are soliciting billions of dollars of capital investment every year suggests that their operating margins aren’t as flush as Elon would like people to believe.

I don’t doubt Starship is currently a huge money pit, probably huge enough that SpaceX doesn’t want to scare off investors. But we do know what SpaceX charges for Falcon flights and I doubt they’re doing it at a loss. We’ll know how cheap or not Starship is when SpaceX starts accepting payload bids for it.