Take a moment to check out this graphic in some detail. It shows inflation-adjusted cost to put a kilogram of payload into orbit. IT IS A LOG SCALE, each line is a doubling or halving of the cost, i.e. a huge game changer.
For five decades, the cheapest costs were around $10,000. (See the shuttle at about $60k.)
The falcon 9 just shattered the price-performance floor, taking it down to under $3,000. The Falcon heavy (triple booster) config took it down to $1,500. That's why SpaceX is getting the lion's share of new launch contracts.
But as amazing as that 7-x cost reduction is, Starship is on track to do a similar leap, down to around $200. That's a 98% reduction from the previous status quo.
I know, I know, still under development, might never work...but damn, I would not want to be betting against SpaceX on this one.
