On Oct 12, 4:52*pm, Brian Thorn wrote:
No, he really isn't. He's paying to use the existing Cape
infrastructure, especially power, communications, tracking range and
payload processing facilities. And his pad is one of the two old Titan
IV pads, so he didn't start from scratch like he'll have to do
elsewhere. The same is true at Vandenberg, by the way, where he is
again using an old Titan pad. Starting over in Texas is going to be
considerably more expensive.

And that's not the only existing infrastructure Musk is making use of.
The test firings of the Falcon 9 stages were all conducted using what
remained of defunct Beal Aerospace's old test stands and facilities in
McGregor, Texas, which were originally intended for the never-built
BA-2 rocket. So if Musk had to build all that on his own, not simply
buy up and modify someone else's, he'd have had to spend much more,
and take more time than he already has.
-Mike