Indeed, the original Falcon 9 cost about $300 Million to develop, compared to a NASA estimate of $4 Billion. But the reusable version we have today cost at least another $1Billion to develop, per SpaceX.
The cost to orbit is falling fast but right now SpaceX has little competition; no one else reusing rockets yet. Once other players join the market and Starship gets online, cost to orbit will drop substantially faster: https://www.lianeon.org/p/the-quiet-revolution-in-space-tech
Indeed, the original Falcon 9 cost about $300 Million to develop, compared to a NASA estimate of $4 Billion. But the reusable version we have today cost at least another $1Billion to develop, per SpaceX.
The cost to orbit is falling fast but right now SpaceX has little competition; no one else reusing rockets yet. Once other players join the market and Starship gets online, cost to orbit will drop substantially faster: https://www.lianeon.org/p/the-quiet-revolution-in-space-tech