Depending on the mass of Starlab, this could open up some really cool possibilities, like sending one to Lunar orbit. Or beyond.
Heck, if you can get it into orbit, you can send another Starship up and push it wherever you want it.
And if you get them to the point where you can “mass produce” (as much as you do that for anything in space), we could be looking at a lot more science happening for a lot less.
Just refill it with a tanker and send it on its merry way.
Going off on a tangent, as far as mass production goes, the satellite constellations and their suppliers/subcontractors are evidence that things are improving. Iridium, Starlink, Oneweb, SDA, etc.
So it begins… :)
Even though IFT-2 didn’t reach “orbit”, it’s clear that it will make it. Even fully expendable, it must be cheaper to launch a space station in one go rather than distributed, even on a falcon.
A SPACE STATION IN ONE LAUNCH!! The future is now. (Or whenever it launches, you know what I mean.)
