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depends what you mean. If you think of it as a "replacement" of another launch they could have sold, then yes, it's the same cost. Lost profit opportunity is lo
by serioussecurity 7y ago
depends what you mean. If you think of it as a "replacement" of another launch they could have sold, then yes, it's the same cost. Lost profit opportunity is lost profit is a cost.
But if it means they can increase the # of rockets they build, they might pick up some efficiency gains on the back stretch. I'm pretty sure they're already struggling to keep up with demand, tho.
- deanCommie 7y agoNot if the opportunity is to be ahead of your rivals to a new market frontier and guarantee a head start
- TimTheTinker 7y agoEven then you're trading one opportunity cost for another.
- azernik 7y agoThey're getting to the point where they're demand-limited rather than supply-limited - plowing through the backlog quite fast, and the GTO launch market is in a downturn.
- agildehaus 7y agoSpaceX keeps rockets other customers "paid" for after they've landed (the customer pays for the flight, not the rocket). They've amassed a fleet they never had to pay a dime to construct. I believe they have eight block 5 Falcon 9s that landed successfully. More if you count previous generations, but those likely won't be reused.
- fyfy18 7y agoDoes the price of a launch completely cover the cost of construction (excluding R&D)?
- usrusr 7y agoIt does, for the competition, and there is no reason for SpaceX to go much lower as long as they don't build excessive overcapacity that needs to be filled.
- nickik 7y agoYes. They actually improved a lot of rocket construction and that's why they were cheaper then everybody else BEFORE re-usability. Now re-usability they just increase the profit. Until somebody else challenges their price, they can get huge profit from every launch.
- growlist 7y agoSo then make the competitor pay for it: each time they launch for a competitor, add a margin equating to the total cost of deploying a Starlink satellite.