zlacker

>You can’t just toss raw solar panels out of a cargo bay.

That is exactly what you do - just like with Starlink - toss out the panels with attached GPUs, laser transmitter and small ion drive.

>>trhway+(OP)
Best estimates based on the publicly available data I can find are that solar panels make up 5-10% of the manufacturing cost of a starlink satellite.

There’s so much overhead you’re hand waving away to make your numbers work.