Yeah those tests are why I put them at the falcon 1 test flight stage generously. It was 10 years from the last flight of falcon 1 to the first flight of falcon 9 block 5, which is where reusability really started to kick in.
Sure there is a follower advantage, but I don’t know if they can make full use of it since they won’t be able to head hunt talent as much as a US company. Itar might also make it more difficult to use the same suppliers and methodology for a more direct copy.
I’m sure they’ll come up with something pretty cheap eventually, but I think it’ll still take a while for economic rapid reuse.
Yeah I suspect that’s what will happen. They’ll launch these satellites on their non-reusable long matches until they eventually have a cheaper reusable capability. I guess we’ll see how long that will be.