The marginal cost on a Space Shuttle launch is actually rather low--a few tens of millions if we kept up with the original launch rates (less than the cost of a

The marginal cost on a Space Shuttle launch is actually rather low--a few tens of millions if we kept up with the original launch rates (less than the cost of a Falcon 9h!). Also, no work was ever done to bring down operational costs. In fact, such costs ballooned as the program dragged on, despite numerous design studies showing ways to reduce them.