Spacex has a target for launch costs of about $7 million per launchĮven with only some reusability and just the Falcon 9, Spacex is half the launch cost of United Launch Alliance when ULA is using the Atlas and the Russia engines. * Spacex is building the BFR rocket able to launch 150 tons and is fully reusable. It could take 2-3 launches for the Spacex Heavy to get reliable * Spacex will try to launch the Falcon Heavy for the first time in Dec 2017. This could reduce launch costs by 2 to 4 times * SpaceX aims to fly each Block 5 first stage ten times with only inspections in between, and up to 100 times with refurbishment. They are struggling to get non-Russian engines working by 2019 or 2020 for about $100-150 million per launch without factoring in launch pad maintenance costs. United Launch Alliance has a problem and the problem is that rocket science is hard. The US wants more than one supplier for heavy rockets, so beyond Spacex, Blue Origin seems like the best bet. They have a reusable suborbital system and have successfully test fired a new large rocket engine. Boeing can then stick to making commercial jets and Lockheed will continue to ripoff the US taxpayer with the ridiculously overpriced F35 stealth fighter.īlue Origin is not yet a successful rocket company. They should also kill the $2-4 billion per year Space Launch System project. The US government should give the nearly $1 billion per year to Spacex and Blue Origin in order to have two reliable rocket companies. ULA still gets this money in 2018, supposedly to guarantee launch capabilities for the USA. ULA gets about $832 million per year to be the “reliable” heavy launch provider for the USA. ULA is contracting out to Aerojet and Blue Origin to make a replacement engine for the Atlas V. They will not launch the first Space Launch System until late 2019 or more likely 2021. They have not launched the Space Launch System in spite of getting over $12 billion since 2001. They have used the Russian engine for the Atlas V. They have not built a complete new rocket for over a decade. Boeing and Lockheed are the backers of ULA.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |