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That may change if they can get the launch prices down to the projected $5-7 million range.
by jobu 12y ago
That may change if they can get the launch prices down to the projected $5-7 million range.
- rsynnott 12y agoIt may. Given that claims of cheap access to space have been around since the 60s, however, people are understandably cautious about this one. Everyone talks about economically recoverable expendable liquid boosters (planned for Saturn V derivatives, as an upgrade for the Energia Zenit boosters, and so on), but no-one had done it yet, never mind established that it can actually be done cheaply.
- ef4 12y agoIn July, SpaceX successfully soft-landed a Falcon 9 first stage in the Atlantic. Now that they've proved they can do it, they're going to try over land next. So they're already very close to the dream of a liquid booster that you can just land, refuel, and relaunch.
- rsynnott 12y agoThe Soviets were also very close to that dream for some time, without ever getting it economical. The US was kind of doing it with solid boosters for decades, but again the economics were dubious; it would practically have been cheaper to build new ones (and I believe that's the plan for the SLS; the solid boosters won't be recovered). Don't get me wrong, it'll be great if they manage it, but I don't think it's as easy as people seem to assume.