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SpaceX has put 82 satellites in orbit so far, and only 4 of these were US federal gov't contracts. In addition, SpaceX has sent 13 re-supply missions to the ISS, and is the only provider of such services to allow for thousands of pounds of material to be returned intact from ISS. Whatever taxpayer money SpaceX has received, it has earned by providing tremendous value.

I agree that the economic viability of the Starlink project must be assessed and re-assessed before billions of dollars are spent on it, but critics should not ignore the fundamental advances made by SpaceX, which have resulted in plans for reusable boosters and space planes from other launch providers around the world, which will certainly kick the space race and colonization efforts into a much higher gear.