By now I think everyone is aware of Elon Musk Starlink satellite system which is annoying every single astronomer because of its streaks in the night sky blocking the amazing view of the Milky Way galaxy
The Starlink satellite system is a worldwide system that is intended to provide internet at a much cheaper price to everyone on the globe it is more than just a telecommunication company because keen analysis of SpaceX business strategy will show that start link is going to be crucial for SpaceX to reach Mars.
To understand why Starlink is important for Space X to go to Mars let's take a look at their business plan space X like every other company operates on different types of planning short term and long term in the long term they have discussed their plans to visit Mars and colonize it, in short term planning SpaceX plans are to provide cargo to International Space Station, take contracts from the government to send satellites at a much cheaper price than conventional space Agencies like NASA.
They will profit with the help of the technology they have created that is their reusable rocket systems here's a fun fact cheap rockets are important because they constituted about 90% of the cost of space travel if you need to send say 10 kg of payload in the space you need about the equivalent of 10 kg of gold to send it up and 90% of the cost is in Rockets fuel because more weight means more fuel and more fuel, in turn, means more weight you need more fuel this cycle never ends only adds up in cost, SpaceX reusable rockets bring down the cost of this way they make a profit and invest part of that profit in their own communication satellite system that is Starlink Sattelite system that is said to be cheaper and better than any other system that we have on the planet.
The commercial success of these two things is important to fund the long term plan of SpaceX that is going to Mars if Starlink fails and short term goals of delivering payloads also don't yield as much profit because of competition from private space companies like Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin and government Agencies like ISRO then the long term goal of going to Mars is going to be postponed as of now SpaceX intends to reach Mars within this decade to colonize it.
The company has gone under the contract of $1.2 billion to commercially resupply cargo which was the first-ever for any private space company but in 2015 SpaceX lost $60 million just because of a launch failure and rocket explosions which just shows that how hard it is to sustain this business when failures can result in loss of millions, destroy trust and it can hinder the process of going to Mars that's why employing a satellite system that will generate stable revenue from telecommunication is important for SpaceX to earn profit and utilize it into its long term goal of reaching Mars
With investments from NASA and IRIDIUM, SpaceX is still our best bet to reach Mars as compared to Jeff Bezos Blue Origin.
