3 ms·

I'd be very interested to see how their costs stack up, if commensurable figures could even be found. During my senior year in the aero/astro program at UW, th

by mkn 18y ago

I'd be very interested to see how their costs stack up, if commensurable figures could even be found. During my senior year in the aero/astro program at UW, the space cadet half of the class (the other half were the wing nuts) got to work with a local aerospace contractor. The engineer at that firm who worked with us gave us an interesting tidbit of info about space-ready hardware. The factors of safety are engineered so tightly (e.g., FS ~=1.05) that, for a part that you've got ~$500 of materials and labor, you've got a ~$20,000 paper trail that documents every process and material source for that part. This gives new meaning to the term "astronomical cost." The big dumb booster school of rocket design seeks to reduce this cost by using higher FS (e.g., automotive grade at FS >~ 2 or higher) and throwing away fuel. I wonder: 1) How close to the BDB school the Chinese rockets are? 2) How much their vehicles cost? & 3) By how much do the differences in labor costs, hidden costs, and distributed costs confound the analysis?

bootload 18y ago
"... How much their vehicles cost? ..." The short answer, a lot. Interesting reading about Chinas efforts with project 921 ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_program_of_China#Project_921 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_program_of_China#Project_... The main development appears to be at Shanghai Academy Of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) which is the technological backbone of the Chinese Missile programme ~ http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/contractor/sast.htm http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/contractor/sast.htm with considerable resourcing ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_program_of_China#Universities_.26_institutes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_program_of_China#Universi... The main booster is the Long March 2F ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_March_2F http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_March_2F which is upgraded 2E (with reported advanced fault monitoring & diagnosis & a not so reliable design after an astronaut on S5 mission ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Liwei http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Liwei reported being sick due to vibrations). The main capsule is the Shenzhou ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhou_spacecraft http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhou_spacecraft an "improved" Soyuz (a very stable & reliable design) ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_spacecraft http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_spacecraft I'm not sure how the costing is being done. In the 90's the Chinese decided to privatise their commercial satellite programme and the US placed a lot of restrictions on it. But this program is different. There is no real military advantage in a manned programme, so I guess the real cost is being funded by the government. I do know one thing. They are looking to do this saving money. The asking price for the Soyuz was knocked back and their own version produced. So the aims seem to be quite ambitious. The cost reflected by the Russian Soyuz is based countless hours of reliable missions ~ http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/shenzhou_tech_030924.html http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/shenzhou_...

by mkn 18y ago

bootload 18y ago

"... How much their vehicles cost? ..." The short answer, a lot. Interesting reading about Chinas efforts with project 921 ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_program_of_China#Project_921 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_program_of_China#Project_... The main development appears to be at Shanghai Academy Of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) which is the technological backbone of the Chinese Missile programme ~ http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/contractor/sast.htm http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/china/contractor/sast.htm with considerable resourcing ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_program_of_China#Universities_.26_institutes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_program_of_China#Universi... The main booster is the Long March 2F ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_March_2F http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_March_2F which is upgraded 2E (with reported advanced fault monitoring & diagnosis & a not so reliable design after an astronaut on S5 mission ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Liwei http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Liwei reported being sick due to vibrations). The main capsule is the Shenzhou ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhou_spacecraft http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenzhou_spacecraft an "improved" Soyuz (a very stable & reliable design) ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_spacecraft http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_spacecraft I'm not sure how the costing is being done. In the 90's the Chinese decided to privatise their commercial satellite programme and the US placed a lot of restrictions on it. But this program is different. There is no real military advantage in a manned programme, so I guess the real cost is being funded by the government. I do know one thing. They are looking to do this saving money. The asking price for the Soyuz was knocked back and their own version produced. So the aims seem to be quite ambitious. The cost reflected by the Russian Soyuz is based countless hours of reliable missions ~ http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/shenzhou_tech_030924.html http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/shenzhou_...