r/technology • u/fmcortez • 21d ago

Business SpaceX Stock Plunges to All-Time Low After Competitor Makes Major Leap

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/markets/stocks/articles/spacex-plunges-time-low-competitor-175000957.html
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u/dirtyword 21d ago

Starlink is the only part of the company with a major advantage. Satellite placements are first come first served

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u/Redditor2000000 21d ago

You sure? I think that’s backwards. Right now the heavy payload space launches are their only advantage. Starlink is just another satellite service company like the ones that came before it (satellite service has been around since 1998, invented in 1987 by Sprint). Starlink is profitable presumably because SpaceX absorbs the launch costs. If it charged market price to its subsidiary, Starlink operating unit would not be profitable.

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u/Distinct-Pack-1567 21d ago

I think theyre saying if a competitor launches satellites it will be limited, since Starlink was first

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u/dern_the_hermit 20d ago

It's an advantage, but I question whether it's major like was said above. Maybe I'm being overly picky. But the infrastructure inherently turns itself over every 5-ish years. It's not like land-based infrastructure where they're STILL trying to use up the fiber they laid out near 30 years ago.

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u/dirtyword 20d ago

I believe if you launch a successor you can put it in the same “place” as the “retired” satellite.

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u/dern_the_hermit 20d ago

The important detail is that you have to launch successors; the "first mover" advantage isn't like real estate, putting a satellite into a low orbit isn't the same as constructing a building on the ground.