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Like the Space Shuttle.
No. The shuttle boosters were expended every single launch. The Falcon 9 booster comes back and lands. Ironically, the Falcon 9 second stage is expended every single launch, but that will not be the case with Super Heavy / Starship that is in development.
Are these still missing laser comms?
Yes. They couldn't make them entirely burn up on re-entry so the FAA blocked them using them until they solve that. It is the risk of them falling on someone.
Maybe living in a world where a trip to the grocery store can have fatal consequences has warped mysense of risk, but this doesn't seem worth worrying about.
I'm so excited for Starlink! As a solo founder I do all of my support, but I like to frequently go off-roading and camping outside of cell service. I have a satellite messenger for critical things, but it still leaves me feeling quite anxious to go on extended trips. If I can toss a starlink dish in a briefcase and get fast affordable internet in the Sierra's, life will be good.
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By "main booster" did you mean the big red thing? That was a fuel storage tank and yes, it was not re-used.
I believe it was actually one of the more strongly limiting factors on the frequency with which space shuttle launches could be conducted because the factory producing them could not turn them out particularly quickly.
This latest launch should be in the dataset soon!