2 ms·

There is no reason a priori to believe that integration and test of one of a kind space cryocoolers scales the same way postage does, or batching out parts at a

• WalterBright 5y ago
  > integration and test of one of a kind space cryocoolers The point is they wouldn't be one of a kind if #2 was built. Planning, designing, iterative prototypes, designing tests, designing test equipment, building test equipment, devising test plans, writing the enormous amount of software require for all of that, for the ground stations, etc., all add nothing to the cost of building #2. Normally, people take the cost of a program and divide it by the number of units built, and call that the per-unit cost. That's an accounting fiction. The first one costs the bulk, the rest cost far less per unit. > no reason The reason is I can't think of any endeavor where the incremental cost of #2 doesn't drop dramatically.