Launch Costs

--- In spacesettlers@y..., jdr7181@c... wrote:
> --- In spacesettlers@y..., rmenich@m... wrote:
> > It's a hairsplitting argument. Here goes:
> >
> > Launch costs are not a significant detriment to today's space
> businesses.
> > Companies are able to launch and operate telecommunications and
> remote
> > sensing satellites profitably, and at the end of the day, launch
> costs are
> > only a small fraction of the overall cost of such systems.
> Therefore,
> > launch costs are not prohibitively high for existing space
> businesses.
>
> Is this because development costs are minimal since the technology
> exists and is available off-the-shelf?
>
> > HOWEVER...
> >
> > Launch costs ARE prohibitively high for the space businesses that
> have yet
> > to develop. Launch costs are a big barrier to my dream of taking
> my
> > family on a one-week vacation to LEO. My family weighs 450
> pounds, and
> > launch costs are, say, $2000/lb, which equates to $900,000 just in
> launch
> > costs alone, which is many times the value of the home in which we
> live.
>
> But why? Are you saying that the added expense is due to developing
> the new technology to get you and your family there? If so, why add
> that to the launch costs? Especially if it's not the launch that
> costs so much money? This makes no sense to me.
>
> Jack

The launch costs per pound are the same in both cases. But a
communications satellite is small and doesn't cost near as much as a
family for that reason. Too, a communications satellite by renting
communications channels makes back its launching cost in a short time.

Another joker in the deck is the theoretical minimum launch cost. I
saw the figures someplace and don't remember them. But they were
quite small.

Take the amount of power it would take to lift a pound into orbit and
use the standard kilowatt hour fee your local power plant charges and
you get closer to $5 or $10 a pound.

This is a theoretical minimum and I'd bet that it is impossible to
reach economically. But we should be able to cut the estimated $2000
a pound down a lot.

It takes thousands of people to launch the Space Shuttle. This means
ten of thousands of man hours and over $100,000 in salaries alone. A
jumbo jet takes a lot less people to prepare it for a flight.

Some people feel that we can build a spacecraft as simple to maintain
as a jumbo jet. Which would cut launch costs by a great amount.

This may not be possible. But still we should be able to cut present
launch costs.

Some people feel that launch costs can be cut close to the minimum
possible. Others feel that we can't get much lower than today's cost.

My opininion is in between but closer to the former than the latter.

Rick Brooks