Apparently a good start is promising to build $25,000 EVs, raising capital and tax subsidies stock value, and then bailing on the promise entirely. You might even be able to afford two or three submarines with that kind of money.
Not in principle, but it's by no means a small feat.
Raptor 3 is supposed to be way more heat-stressed than the RS-25 and hasn't reached the design pressure yet. Promising rapid reuse at this stage of development is very ambitious.
They haven't reached anywhere near the turnaround with the much less stressed Falcon's Merlin engines.
Rapid reuse of the Starship itself is even more ambitious.
They're a private company funded personally by the richest man in the world. What makes you think there is such a thing as a "starship development budget" and that it's limited?
Musk's interplanetary delirium aside, HLS is the customer for Super Heavy/Starship. They've reported spending all of the NASA's 3 billion and delivered very little of contracted capability so far.
SpaceX filings show $3.8B of funding from various mostly undisclosed investors, Musk's own stake can't exceed that can it?
The richest man wouldn't be so rich if he didn't watch his money.
