It's a question of economics. A 20,000 kg rod costs $200m to launch into LEO at $10k/kg. At $200/kg it's only $4m. Uranium price per kilo seems reasonable at

It's a question of economics. A 20,000 kg rod costs $200m to launch into LEO at $10k/kg. At $200/kg it's only $4m. Uranium price per kilo seems reasonable at $60/kg, so we're getting to a point where the raw material cost is not that different from the getting the damn thing to LEO. If you can get each complete rod down to say $200m, ie the cost of a cruise missle for the DOD, that's a pretty impressive capability.