Except they launched them 4 at a time on Ariane 5 (which has similar capacity as falcon, so doubtful they would launch much more at a time with space, also it was available at the time of the start of the project…), and two at a time on the cheaper Soyouz. Also, it’s way better to pay even 200 million (more likely less than 150 millions) to domestic companies to boost your own economy than to pay 70 million to your number one competitor…