SpaceX files to go public • Hacker News Board

Re: SpaceX files to go public

#571

Post by drzaiusx11 » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 4:44 PM UTC

muskstinks wrote: post #547

drzaiusx11 wrote: post #541

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's stupid, but it mostly works because they also own the sat deployment side of the equation as well. Dropping the cost to launch (replacement sats etc) by continuing to take greater piece of all total space launches along with large step function capacity refinements with each new rocket generation, means they will continue to push the economics in their favor. $300k/sat might not be worth it, but unless there's a…

I def also want to see continue progress and investing in space is only a problem in capitalism, which i'm not a big fan of anyway. But it would be so much better if the person behind this would have more character.

To be absolutely clear, as I make no allusions: we operate in a brutal, broken system from the current financial systems under capitalism in its current form. I'd likewise argue that a billionaire "with character" vs a billionaire with none is still highly problematic. The very existence of billionaires is the root of enough social ills that they should not exist as a class of people at all. Many in that class would even claim to be "doing what's best" in all honesty, when nothing could be further from the truth. Sadly that doesn't mean the ruling class simply ceases to exist because of our collective desires. Nothing short of massive societal change through collective action, something humans have been proven to be really, really bad at time and again, would make any other system possible. I digress..

That said, SpaceX engineers managing to perform impressive feats in manned and unmanned space travel still stands as something to be lauded in my book, even if their leadership deserves none of it. These feats are made _more impressive_ given the poor, child-like behavior found in their particular brand of leadership rather than less.

The employees of SpaceX have made their views about leadership very well known several times now, often with real consequences to themselves and their families. We live in unfortunate times. I'll take my slivers of hope for humanities continued advancement in space travel where I can however, even as it seems the fabric of society further unravels.

Re: SpaceX files to go public

#572

Post by datsci_est_2015 » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 4:46 PM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #395

datsci_est_2015 wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ocean floor is more habitable than Mars. The asteroid belt likely contains more easily-obtained rare metals that also don’t have to escape Mars’ terminal velocity. Reading a comment like the grandparent’s while we’re surrounded by many tangible crises on earth is sickening. Especially many of them manufactured by the same man who the grandparent comment seems to deify (DOGE AIDS funding). Anyway, I find myself fe…

Human problems are generally unsolvable, no matter how much money is spent on them.

What’s a “human problem”?

Re: SpaceX files to go public

#573

Post by pnw » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 4:52 PM UTC

raw_anon_1111 wrote: post #509

laughing_man wrote: post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There were a lot of people back in the early '90s who thought cell service would never be widely adopted because of the cost. It was clear you didn't need a mobile phone -- we'd all gotten long just fine without one.

I worked at Radio Shack in 1995 shortly after carriers started subsidizing phones aggressively and you could “buy one for penny”. They were selling like crazy. Just some quick Googling says that cellphone penetration went from 1% in 1990 to 50% by 1999. The Motorola Startec was introduced in 1996 and clones came quickly thereafter and were all the rage

I think that's the point. Nobody in the 80s or early 90s understood how quickly it would grow by 1995.

Re: SpaceX files to go public

#574

Post by johneth » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 4:57 PM UTC

polski-g wrote: post #485

b3ing wrote: post #117

How will they make money? From governments? With Elon's beliefs, few will be able to afford the vacation trips to space, except a few and they can already do this if they wanted, but haven't in droves. If anything this just proves that the Overview Effect (traveling to space changes you) is just BS, Bezos and the others never changed.

Providing Internet to the entire world that's faster than fiber. Providing space launch capability that's 1/10th what NASA charges. Providing quite good AI at 100 tokens/sec.

> Providing Internet to the entire world that's faster than fiber.

Bullshit. You're not going to be faster than fiber from orbit, with congested bandwidth.

> Providing space launch capability that's 1/10th what NASA charges.

NASA isn't in the commercial launch space.

> Providing quite good AI at 100 tokens/sec.

It's the weakest of the slop machines.

Re: SpaceX files to go public

#575

Post by ghaff » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 4:59 PM UTC

raw_anon_1111 wrote: post #509

laughing_man wrote: post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There were a lot of people back in the early '90s who thought cell service would never be widely adopted because of the cost. It was clear you didn't need a mobile phone -- we'd all gotten long just fine without one.

I worked at Radio Shack in 1995 shortly after carriers started subsidizing phones aggressively and you could “buy one for penny”. They were selling like crazy. Just some quick Googling says that cellphone penetration went from 1% in 1990 to 50% by 1999. The Motorola Startec was introduced in 1996 and clones came quickly thereafter and were all the rage

Although it’s also the case that people like me owned cell phones for quite a while but didn’t use them to any material degree especially for personal uses for a while.

Re: SpaceX files to go public

#576

Post by danny_codes » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 5:04 PM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #185

lenerdenator wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't need to enter the mainstream discourse. It needs to enter the inbox of a grand jury docket.

What crime do you think was committed? Indices are privately maintained and transparently rebalanced.

Fraud, arguably, since it seems a deliberate attempt to mislead investors

Re: SpaceX files to go public

#577

Post by danny_codes » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 5:09 PM UTC

polski-g wrote: post #485

b3ing wrote: post #117

How will they make money? From governments? With Elon's beliefs, few will be able to afford the vacation trips to space, except a few and they can already do this if they wanted, but haven't in droves. If anything this just proves that the Overview Effect (traveling to space changes you) is just BS, Bezos and the others never changed.

Providing Internet to the entire world that's faster than fiber. Providing space launch capability that's 1/10th what NASA charges. Providing quite good AI at 100 tokens/sec.

Yeah.. they aren’t going to provide internet to the world faster than fiber. There are a few use-cases that make sense. Almost everyone who has money already has faster internet than LEO internet can provide.

And yet, who will use it? You need something to put on the rocket. Seems the vast majority of stuff they’re putting on rockets is their own assets.

What is groks market share? 1%?

Re: SpaceX files to go public

#578

Post by danny_codes » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 5:14 PM UTC

tristanj wrote: post #225

I'm a SpaceX investor, and from reading the comments here, I think most people here are missing why SpaceX has an outrageously high valuation. SpaceX's valuation only makes sense if you buy into their mission of creating a civilization on Mars, and that the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation is the vehicle that creates this future. If SpaceX achieves this, it would be the most valuable company ever created. I…

We don’t even know if humans can survive effectively in Mar’s gravity. This effort is still deep in science fiction land.

Re: SpaceX files to go public

#579

Post by WalterBright » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 5:21 PM UTC

datsci_est_2015 wrote: post #572

WalterBright wrote: post #395

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Human problems are generally unsolvable, no matter how much money is spent on them.

What’s a “human problem”?

Do you think enough spending will eliminate murder?

When poverty is defined as the lower quintile of income, poverty cannot be eliminated.

There will always be uncivilized people.

There are always be some people better off than others.

There will always be people smarter/handsomer/stronger/etc. than others.

There will always be people who want to destroy things.

There will always be people who take risks and ruin their lives.

There will always be alcoholics and drug addicts.

Consider how the standard of living has improved enormously over the last 200 years, yet nobody is satisfied.

Re: SpaceX files to go public

#580

Post by WalterBright » Thu, Apr 02, 2026, 5:26 PM UTC

entropi wrote: post #424

WalterBright wrote: post #394

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Creating an autonomous station on Antarctica or the moon is child's play compared to Mars. That's because it's unnecessary. It's cheaper to just ship supplies in.

And how is a colony on mars necessary?

I meant it was not necessary for the Antarctica station to be autonomous.