Industry executives argue that SpaceX’s dominant position in the launch market is making it difficult for small launch vehicles to compete.

I’m not sure how to feel after reading this article, simply because I don’t think it offered enough data to make a reasoned conclusion. I think we can agree that industry monopolies are not a good thing. The question is, has SpaceX simply cracked the code to cheap launch or are they using monopolistic practices to squeeze out the competition (ie operating on a loss with the intent of bankrupting companies with less capital) ?

  • intensely_human@lemm.eeEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    If anything the biggest risk of monopoly in this industry probably comes from the fact that governments control all access to the marketplace. Only the players the government approves are allowed to enter, so if a big player like SpaceX wanted to suppress competition its most effective path would be gaining control of the regulatory processes to simply deny competitors’ requests for sky access.