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>> With the grasshopper technology the cost of a flight to orbit basically is the cost of rocket fuel... >Even my car costs significantly more than just the fu

>> With the grasshopper technology the cost of a flight to orbit basically is the cost of rocket fuel... >Even my car costs significantly more than just the fuel. yes, but the cost of using your car for a drive from home to work is basically the cost of car fuel. As opposed to the cost of a full car + fuel because you decide to blow your car up once you get to destination, like we now do for rockets.

ceejayoz 14y ago
> yes, but the cost of using your car for a drive from home to work is basically the cost of car fuel. No, it isn't. Insurance, license, registration, annual inspection, tires, wear-and-tear, maintenance, depreciation... and imagine if I needed a fully-staffed mission control at my house every time I took a ride. Reusable rockets may reduce costs, but chances are it won't be by 100x.
- kalininalex 14y ago
  If we assume two things: the current cost of fuel is 1% of the total launch cost, and launching a reusable rocket is similar to operating an aircraft, then we can use numbers from commercial aviation: - the cost of fuel is 35% of the total cost. The total cost of the rocket launch then will be 3 times its fuel cost, or 3% of the _current_ expense. That's savings of 97%. Even if the analogy is not perfect and we make numerous allowances, the potential for cost-cutting by 80-90% is not inconceivable. Again, this is based on the two assumptions above. If they are totally off, so are these calculations.
  - pyre 14y ago
    I would assume that air traffic control is similar to ground control for the purposes of this analogy. Does that 35% number take into account the costs of air traffic control? I'm assuming that the airport (and not the airlines) covers those costs.
    - kalininalex 14y ago
      As far as I know air traffic control is part of FAA and it's covered by taxpayers (or perhaps, it's an extra charge in the ticket?). In any case, ground control will probably be a lot less expensive since it's just one team in one location, while air traffic control covers the entire country.
nfg 14y ago
> yes, but the cost of using your car for a drive from home to work is basically the cost of car fuel Not really: licencing / tax, insurance, maintenance between use - all likely to be significant cost factors in any launch platform also.

ceejayoz 14y ago

> yes, but the cost of using your car for a drive from home to work is basically the cost of car fuel. No, it isn't. Insurance, license, registration, annual inspection, tires, wear-and-tear, maintenance, depreciation... and imagine if I needed a fully-staffed mission control at my house every time I took a ride. Reusable rockets may reduce costs, but chances are it won't be by 100x.

kalininalex 14y ago
If we assume two things: the current cost of fuel is 1% of the total launch cost, and launching a reusable rocket is similar to operating an aircraft, then we can use numbers from commercial aviation: - the cost of fuel is 35% of the total cost. The total cost of the rocket launch then will be 3 times its fuel cost, or 3% of the _current_ expense. That's savings of 97%. Even if the analogy is not perfect and we make numerous allowances, the potential for cost-cutting by 80-90% is not inconceivable. Again, this is based on the two assumptions above. If they are totally off, so are these calculations.
- pyre 14y ago
  I would assume that air traffic control is similar to ground control for the purposes of this analogy. Does that 35% number take into account the costs of air traffic control? I'm assuming that the airport (and not the airlines) covers those costs.
  - kalininalex 14y ago
    As far as I know air traffic control is part of FAA and it's covered by taxpayers (or perhaps, it's an extra charge in the ticket?). In any case, ground control will probably be a lot less expensive since it's just one team in one location, while air traffic control covers the entire country.

nfg 14y ago

> yes, but the cost of using your car for a drive from home to work is basically the cost of car fuel Not really: licencing / tax, insurance, maintenance between use - all likely to be significant cost factors in any launch platform also.