Yea, ITS was on the colonization level, the mini should be able to do early exploring and pathfinder missions.That's assuming mini ITS doesn't take the same 10 years as full ITS was targeting.
I really want to see in orbit refueling and soon. this all opens up possibilities of missions weve previously dreamed of much sooner than the full ITS
At least with this they'll be able to make money along the way, similar to how propulsive landing was developed.