Starlink is a link in Elon's fragile chain of strategies. Elon, evidently, loves interlinked strategies. The first grand linkage was "How do we make reusable rockets valuable?" because, on their own, with non-reusable second stages, they're cool, but not financially impressive. But, with Starlink using almost all reused Falcon 9 capacity, it looks sexy af.
Elon, of course, can't stop there: How do you use the redonkulous payload-to-orbit capacity of Starship? You make satellites 5X larger that are no longer a "bent pipe" architecture and you make a "backbone-in-orbit" with laser links between satellites.
That might make Starlink make financial sense. But it looks like it is years away from being possible. Meanwhile Starlink "1.5" satellites are a PoC of laser links between satellites, but not anywhere near the scale of the big satellites that need Starship.
Elon, of course, can't stop there: How do you use the redonkulous payload-to-orbit capacity of Starship? You make satellites 5X larger that are no longer a "bent pipe" architecture and you make a "backbone-in-orbit" with laser links between satellites.
That might make Starlink make financial sense. But it looks like it is years away from being possible. Meanwhile Starlink "1.5" satellites are a PoC of laser links between satellites, but not anywhere near the scale of the big satellites that need Starship.