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by slaxman
3683 days ago
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From the article: "Scientists at ISRO believe that they could reduce the cost by as much as 10 times if reusable technology succeeds, bringing it down to $2,000 per kg."
Wow! That's extremely cheap! What are SpaceX's expected numbers? |
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However, the pricing page for SpaceX shows the Falcon Heavy runs $90 Million USD for a launch of 54,400 kg to LEO (on a fully expendable vehicle, so no refunds). That works out to be $1,654 per kg (or $750 per pound, under their original estimate). Reusing the first stage rockets reduces the lift profile but the costs are projected to be about 2/3 of their original value, so I'd suspect the overall cost to be even lower - around $1,300/kg or so.
[Edit] Elon Musk is on record as saying his ultimate goal is $100 per pound, or $254/kg. That presumes daily flights.[2] In a Senate meeting in 2004 he said, "Ultimately, I believe $500 per pound [$1,270 per kg] or less is very achievable."[3] Depending on discounts on the Falcon Heavy, SpaceX is sitting around that cost level.
[0] http://www.airspacemag.com/space/is-spacex-changing-the-rock...
[1] http://www.spacex.com/about/capabilities
[2] http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/07/21/138166072/space...
[3]http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=12774