> have you got a source thats not a nearly 2 decades old
Such as the Lockheed Martin 2024 contract I linked?
Sure.. try that link, it's from last year and talks about grown up big boy weather sat costs in 2024..
Your $30m SmallSat is not in the same league as a full featured $300m sat .. I'll leave you to work out the differences.
Moreover the launch costs for those $30m sats is under $8m each launch, again refuting an upstream claim about launch costs being higher than sat build costs.
The starting price for delivering payloads to orbit is about US$7.5 million per launch, or US$25,000 per kg, which offers the only dedicated service at this price point.
I had a bit of a chat with chatgpt and I agree the smallsats are not replacement just yet, but in future there's no doubt they are better in most ways - faster iteration, far better resolution and of course lower cost.
Such as the Lockheed Martin 2024 contract I linked?
Sure.. try that link, it's from last year and talks about grown up big boy weather sat costs in 2024..
Your $30m SmallSat is not in the same league as a full featured $300m sat .. I'll leave you to work out the differences.
Moreover the launch costs for those $30m sats is under $8m each launch, again refuting an upstream claim about launch costs being higher than sat build costs.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_Lab_Electron