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SpaceX says they're currently selling reused-booster GTO launches < 5.5 metric tons for $50mm, which is plenty low enough to screw up everyone else's financial
by greglindahl 8y ago
SpaceX says they're currently selling reused-booster GTO launches < 5.5 metric tons for $50mm, which is plenty low enough to screw up everyone else's financial plans. Ariane 6, for example, appears to cost more than SpaceX's current price.
- Diederich 8y ago> Ariane 6 Also, the first Ariane 6 test flight is currently scheduled for 2020. Meanwhile, the next generation SpaceX platform, the BFR/BFS, is also expected to start orbital testing in 2020. BFR/BFS is 100% reusable, and will bring lift costs down at least an order of magnitude. Now, everybody knows about 'Elon time', but the 2020 estimate comes from their COO, Gwynne Shotwell, who is without a doubt far more realistic with estimates. I'm obviously a pretty huge SpaceX fan, but I really hope there is some meaningful competition for them in the future. It seems to me that Blue Origin might be the only possibility there.
- nickik 8y agoI don't think Gwynne ever said orbital testing by 2020. They will start upper stage hops in 2019 maybe and potentially. However the booster is unlikely to be ready by then.
- Diederich 8y agoWell noted. I pulled 2020 from the Wikipedia article, which is sourced from Elon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BFR_(rocket)#cite_note-34 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BFR_(rocket)#cite_note-34 And several years ago at that.