Oleg Zabluda's blog
Monday, November 21, 2011
 
"Is SpaceX changing the rocket equation?" By Andrew Chaikin, Air & Space magazine, January 2012
"Is SpaceX changing the rocket equation?" By Andrew Chaikin, Air & Space magazine, January 2012

http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?urlID=464931307&action=cpt&partnerID=285367

"""
Falcon 9 launch costs an average of $57 million, which works out to less than $2,500 per pound to orbit. That’s significantly less than what other U.S. launch companies typically charge, and even the manufacturer of China’s low-cost Long March rocket (which the U.S. has banned importing) says it cannot beat SpaceX’s pricing. By 2014, the company’s next rocket, the Falcon Heavy, aims to lower the cost to $1,000 per pound. And Musk insists that’s just the beginning.


To cut the cost of getting to orbit to just $100 per pound, Musk says, “you need to be able to launch multiple times a day, just like an airplane. And it’s got to be complete, so you can’t be throwing away a million dollars of expendable hardware every flight either.” Musk has targeted reusability from the start. Merlin engines, for example, are designed to fly tens of missions—provided you can get them back. [...] A test program called Grasshopper is already in the works at SpaceX’s Texas facility. No one can predict how many years it might take to achieve full and rapid reusability, but Musk says, “it’s absolutely crucial. It’s fundamental. I would consider SpaceX to have failed if we do not succeed in that.”

The insistence on reusability “drives the engineers insane,” says Vozoff. “We could’ve had Falcon 1 in orbit two years earlier than we did if Elon had just given up on first stage reusability. The qualification for the Merlin engine was far outside of what was necessary, unless you plan to recover it and reuse it. And so the engineers are frustrated because this isn’t the quickest means to the end. But Elon has this bigger picture in mind. And he forces them to do what’s hard. And I admire that about him.”"""

For comparision, the cheapest Russian launcher - Dnepr is $1000-$1300/lb

References:
 Expendable Launch Vehicles (some have prices)
http://www.spaceandtech.com/spacedata/elvs/elvs.shtml

"The myth of $10,000 per pound"
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewnews.html?id=301
http://www.airspacemag.com/space-exploration/Visionary-Launchers-Employees.html

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