Author Topic: SpaceX manifest: company aims for five Falcon 9 launches in one month (Read 7960 times)

wannamoonbase · « **Reply #20 on:** 03/10/2018 07:50 pm »

Quote from: CuddlyRocket on 03/10/2018 07:07 pm

Quote from: R.Simko on 03/10/2018 03:43 pm
Is Starlink going to be a separate division of SpaceX, or will it be a totally separate company?
A subsidiary of SpaceX, possibly with minority shareholders, would be my guess. Gives SpaceX control, but with the aim of providing a financial firebreak so that a failure of Starlink doesn't bring down SpaceX itself.

Agreed, if it has a degree of legal separation they could do an IPO for Starlink for funding and unlocking some value for SpaceX employees.

mme · « **Reply #21 on:** 03/10/2018 08:35 pm »

Quote from: wannamoonbase on 03/10/2018 07:50 pm

Quote from: CuddlyRocket on 03/10/2018 07:07 pm
Quote from: R.Simko on 03/10/2018 03:43 pm
Is Starlink going to be a separate division of SpaceX, or will it be a totally separate company?
A subsidiary of SpaceX, possibly with minority shareholders, would be my guess. Gives SpaceX control, but with the aim of providing a financial firebreak so that a failure of Starlink doesn't bring down SpaceX itself.

Agreed, if it has a degree of legal separation they could do an IPO for Starlink for funding and unlocking some value for SpaceX employees.

IPO is not a good idea. Making Starlink a publicly traded company means being beholden to the shareholders which would put a serious damper on funder SpaceX's Mars efforts. Google comments from Musk on Tesla and the IPO. It's the same reason he's using hats and flamethrowers to fund The Boring Company.

My prediction is Starlink stays part of SpaceX and stays privately held. I'm positive that SpaceX is being very careful who's money they take and I bet they they sign a very clear contract as to SpaceX's purpose and that there is no short term ROI.

gongora · « **Reply #22 on:** 03/10/2018 08:39 pm »

Quote from: CuddlyRocket on 03/10/2018 07:07 pm

Quote from: R.Simko on 03/10/2018 03:43 pm
Is Starlink going to be a separate division of SpaceX, or will it be a totally separate company?
A subsidiary of SpaceX, possibly with minority shareholders, would be my guess. Gives SpaceX control, but with the aim of providing a financial firebreak so that a failure of Starlink doesn't bring down SpaceX itself.

It's currently a wholly owned subsidiary. I wouldn't be surprised if they got investors involved eventually.

Chris Bergin · « **Reply #23 on:** 03/10/2018 09:23 pm »

Ok chaps. Probably not the thread for Starlink given they aren't on the missions in the article.

gongora · « **Reply #24 on:** 03/24/2018 02:25 pm »

So with a week to go in March it's looking like SpaceX will launch somewhere between 2 and 5 flights in April. Typical. (Right now I'd probably be more willing to bet on 2 flights in April than 4+).

speedevil · « **Reply #25 on:** 03/24/2018 05:04 pm »

Quote from: gongora on 03/24/2018 02:25 pm

So with a week to go in March it's looking like SpaceX will launch somewhere between 2 and 5 flights in April. Typical. (Right now I'd probably be more willing to bet on 2 flights in April than 4+).

At one point, from memory, it looked like there were going to be 5 in December - ended up at two.