Well then in the case you just mentioned they could do something similar to starlink where it's subsidised by the American government? Also the fact that the space race was heavily pushed by the government of the time as a propaganda tool would be of less importance of say someone like Amazon who could build a couple thousand of those things and have them constantly working unlike a human workforce?

Tbf mate look at how enormous the computers NASA used to use in the 60's, and look how quickly that power was scaled down by the early 90's- the fact we have AI, automation and a far better understanding of things like this now I could feasibly see this happening a lot quicker and tbh I welcome it, it'd make society really look at itself and how it should prioritise humans autonomy and enjoyment of life over endlessly grinding away the days to make a living.