[elictronic]

Each Expendable Starship Super Heavy launched costs less than a single engine on the Artemis program.

Every time you see a Starship launch what you aren't seeing is manufacturing processes corrected, issues in launch protocols and field issues resolved. All the little things that build up to make your system reliable. Do you want the doctor who has done a hundred successful surgeries, or the one who has done one or two but spent a long time in school watching videos.

The big difference is in the end, Starship gets built faster, costs much less, and can do more. It's not even close.

[2OEH8eoCRo0]

You can't compare costs for a rocket that doesn't work yet. It's fictional. As I said in my post, if we are comparing fictional rockets then I have a $1 rocket that can fly to Jupiter.

[NetMageSCW]

That sounds a lot like the infamous paper rocket comment about Falcon Heavy versus SLS being a real rocket. Meanwhile Falcon Heavy has launched something to the orbit of Mars, launched multiple (including NASA) missions to space and SLS has orbited the moon once with multiple problems.

[signatoremo]

Of course you can. It wasn’t fictional when Superheavy flew back and was caught, was it? It costed real money, not fictional. What kind of mental gymnastics are you doing?

[UltraSane]

Until it actually works every dollar is waste.

[delichon]

SpaceX is paying tuition for an education. Is every dollar you spend on college wasted until you graduate?

[NetMageSCW]

Do you think that about cancer research, or antibiotic research, or development of the JWT?