Interesting article in sci.space.policy on launch costs (order of magnitude reduction in costs anyone?)

There's currently an article by Gary Hudson, (I don't have the
article to hand here unfortunately), in sci.space.policy
(I think it was policy, one of the sci.space groups) on USENET.

Apparently the underlying cost of a Proton rocket (which already
has the lowest cost per kilo to LEO); apparently it's only $5m
for >30 tonnes, that's more than an order of magnitude lower
than the price they charge... (around $2600 normally, bringing
it to $260/kg or less).

The current list price is $80-100m reflecting the launch rates
that we see today and the limited market.

The implication is that in LARGE quantity launch scenarios the
Russians could significantly lower the cost per pound by
an order of magnitude... (and still they would be able to
make a profit.)

This compares very favourably with the cost of the space
shuttle where the incremental cost is ~$100m. Actually
it compares very favourably with just about every other
launcher come to think of it.

Anyway, real eye opener huh?

--
- Ian Woollard (ian.woollard@...)

"Is a planetary surface the right place for an expanding technological
civilization?"
- Gerard O'Neill