SpaceX hasn’t had much competition for years now and they just pulled off catching the largest booster in history like a pair of chopsticks. I don’t think competition is what is motivating them.
Exactly. They're motivated by reducing dollars per kg of payload. They have their own agenda for a Mars mission, and they'll build a business taking third party gigs to fund their long term mission to get people to Mars.
Who can tell? Musk has gone full Kanye at this point. He still has intelligence, but years of people telling him he's the most talented person on the earth have led to a downward spiral of egomania and lack of self awareness. I don't think anyone can guess his motivations at this point.
Musk made his goals for SpaceX well known from the beginning, has for decades maintained that was his goals and his actions with SpaceX are all consistent with those goals.
