> the private sector profits by consuming a shared resource.
The public benefits from this privately maintained system. Irrespective of who profits, this is a service that I very much want, and I'm perfectly happy if Random Corporation XYZ makes a few bucks as long as I get the service at a reasonable price.
"The public" usually refers to the whole community and implies payment through a government or similar scheme. You cannot call your benefit from a private transaction a public good or yourself the public in that scenario. Otherwise literally all commerce is for public benefit. The comment was making a point about externalities.
It's a false and misleading point. It makes no difference whether SpaceX or NASA is selling satellite internet service.
This isn't a tragedy of the commons scenario, or a "privatize the gains" scenario. It's simply a competing use. For millennia astronomers have had near-exclusive use of the sky. I don't see why they should continue to be able to hog it all to themselves.
Wow, those dastardly astronomers, hogging something that somehow isn't part of the commons. They should learn how to share! How about letting astronomers use the night sky every Tuesday?
The public benefits from this privately maintained system. Irrespective of who profits, this is a service that I very much want, and I'm perfectly happy if Random Corporation XYZ makes a few bucks as long as I get the service at a reasonable price.