4 ms·
It seems to me that if you’re spending millions of dollars on a satellite launch, the cost of shipping your satellite to New Zealand is tiny in comparison.
by skykooler 3y ago
It seems to me that if you’re spending millions of dollars on a satellite launch, the cost of shipping your satellite to New Zealand is tiny in comparison.
- sidewndr46 3y agoI think the concern is the possibility of damage in transit. I think most of the ESA & NASA's scientific missions effectively get final assembly on site, followed by a pre-launch check, then clearance to be placed in the final stage's payload chamber.
- syedkarim 3y agoThe Ariane 5 launches from South America. The rocket and the payload are shipped from Europe to French Guiana.
- sidewndr46 3y agoI'm reasonably certain the Ariane rockets are not shipped in final form to South America: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Rosetta/Ariane_5_is_transferred_to_the_Final_Assembly_Building https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Rosett...
- Reason077 3y agoYeah, but that's because there isn't a suitable launch site in France or elsewhere on the European continent. Rocket Lab do have launch sites in the USA, so why go to all the trouble of shipping everything to New Zealand?
- jackmott42 3y agoTheir current rocket is a smallsat launcher, it isn't that expensive.
- skykooler 3y agoRocket Lab charges $7 million per launch. It’s way cheaper than the $60 million launch price of a falcon 9, but it’s still millions of dollars.