It just crossed my mind that, even after Starship delivers on its promise of cheap 100+ tons to LEO, there will be space in the market for smaller launchers for the same reasons there is a market for both the Airbus A-380 and the A-220 - not everyone has 100+ tons to place in LEO, not everyone wants to wait for the bus to be full before launch, and not everyone wants to have a propulsion pack to get to the right apogee/perigee/inclination if the launcher places the payload in the wrong place - it's like flying into a big airport and taking a train when you could have landed in a smaller one and walked to your hotel. Or lande on the hotel's helipad.
Right now, Starship demands a specific container format for the Pez delivery thing, which is not a one-size-fits-all for every payload (it could be, but that demands a lot of new design).
It just crossed my mind that, even after Starship delivers on its promise of cheap 100+ tons to LEO, there will be space in the market for smaller launchers for the same reasons there is a market for both the Airbus A-380 and the A-220 - not everyone has 100+ tons to place in LEO, not everyone wants to wait for the bus to be full before launch, and not everyone wants to have a propulsion pack to get to the right apogee/perigee/inclination if the launcher places the payload in the wrong place - it's like flying into a big airport and taking a train when you could have landed in a smaller one and walked to your hotel. Or lande on the hotel's helipad.
Right now, Starship demands a specific container format for the Pez delivery thing, which is not a one-size-fits-all for every payload (it could be, but that demands a lot of new design).