info
Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
OT true - costs to launch stuff into space
53 views
Skip to first unread message
a425couple
Feb 6, 2017, 2:05:32 PM2/6/17
to
This subject is definitely at the core of many of the
'hard sci-fi" books. *
This article has a variety of figures.
"Here's how much money it actually costs to launch stuff into space
Sarah Kramer and Dave Mosher, Business Insider
Jul. 20, 2016, 10:08 AM
http://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-rocket-cargo-price-by-weight-2016-6
Early Wednesday morning, astronauts on board the International Space Station
(ISS) welcomed a Dragon capsule, SpaceX's uncrewed spacecraft, and the 5,000
lbs. of fresh cargo it carried.
The mission marks part of a new era for NASA, which stopped flying its space
shuttles in 2011 - and has since turned to the private sector for help in
shipping crucial supplies to and from the ISS, and ideally at a lower cost
than ever before.
But have space shipping costs since fallen?
To find out, we spoke to payload specialist and space station engineer Ravi
Margasahayam and crunched some numbers.
In 2008, NASA signed contracts with SpaceX and its rival aerospace company
Orbital Sciences, to the tune of $1.6 billion for 12 launches and $1.9
billion for eight rocket launches, respectively.
While these new missions cost hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars less
than a space shuttle launch, the price of sending cargo into space didn't go
down.
"My cost per pound went up with these rockets," Margasahayam told Tech
Insider. "On the shuttle, it would be much less." (Margasahayam spoke to
Tech Insider as a private citizen and engineer, rather than as a
representative of NASA.)
Margasahayam points out that, while the space shuttles were more expensive -
a whopping $500 million per launch (or possibly $1.5 billion, according to
one analysis we've seen) - each mission carried about 50,000 lbs. (plus
seven astronauts!). That means each pound of cargo used to cost about
$10,000 to ship on a shuttle.
Orbital Science's Cygnus spacecraft costs about $43,180 per pound to send
things up, dividing the $1.9 billion contract by the maximum 20 metric tons
of cargo the company is supposed to supply.
For SpaceX - the cheapest of NASA's new carriers - dividing the cost of each
launch ($133 million) by the cargo weight of its most recent resupply
mission (5,000 lbs.) gives you about $27,000 per pound.
But that's a high estimate. SpaceX told Tech Insider that its Dragon cargo
spacecraft launched on a Falcon 9 rocket can carry up to 7,300 lbs. - and
that you could bring just as much cargo back to Earth, too (something Cygnus
can't do). So if a Dragon is full of supplies at launch and on landing, the
cost dips to $9,100 per pound.
So what does it actually cost to send things into space today? We've
estimated the shipping costs of a few experiments, care packages, and
necessities of life that have made it to the space station below.
Bottle of water: $9,100 to $43,180
Water is necessary for life - but crazy expensive in space. A 16-ounce
bottle of water weighs about a pound, so it's a good baseline for how much
stuff costs to send to the space station: between $9,100 to $43,180.
NASA decided long ago that it was silly to send new water up there all the
time, especially since there's so much of it in the human body. So
astronauts on board the ISS now drink some water recycled from their
condensation, sweat, and urine.
70 mice: at least $29,860
-------------
Vegetable garden: more than $145,000
In 2015, astronauts aboard ISS got a very special treat: Real leafy greens,
grown locally - in space.
The experiment was about more than salad. Astronauts are studying the
effects of microgravity on plants. If we're going to ever send humans to
Mars, understanding how to grow veggies is going to be very, very important.
At 16 pounds, it's $145,600 to $690,900, which is just slightly more
expensive than a salad in Manhattan.
Lemons: more than $2,000 each
--------------
Does this sound ridiculously expensive?
By Earth standards, sure. But Margasahayam says it's worth it.
Experiments conducted on the space station have huge potential to teach us
about the human body and the future of space flight. Space programs like
NASA have led to huge leaves in technology that we use every day here on
Earth.
"NASA is the pinnacle of American ingenuity and engineering," Margasahayam
said. He also points out that NASA's budget is really very small compared to
other departments.
As we've written before, too, entrepreneur Elon Musk (who owns SpaceX) hopes
to bring the cost of shipping objects to space to less than $1,000 per
pound.
In the end, shipping stuff to the ISS is crazy expensive. But it also
represents international collaboration, scientific advancement, and
innovation - and that's priceless."
* like Arthur Clarke's "Imperial Earth", "2001 a Space Oddeyessy"
and "Rendevous with Rama" (where the earth's moon, Mars, and
Mercury are economicly 'independent' entities).
Meanwhile, here are a couple other cites:
launch - What is the current cost-per-pound to send something into ...
space.stackexchange.com/.../what-is-the-current-cost-per-pound-to-send-something-in...
Sep 16, 2013 - As a student of economics and finance I would love to learn
more about the cost structures of sending a payload into orbit. More
specifically -.
What is the current cost per kg to send something into GSO/GEO?
space.stackexchange.com/.../what-is-the-current-cost-per-kg-to-send-something-into-...
Sep 18, 2013 - We have a similar question in What is the current
cost-per-pound to send something into LEO? While launching to a Low Earth
Orbit (LEO) is of course expected to be ... operational orbital launchers
comes down to a factor of roughly 2:1. .... else than to compare price per
kg to LEO to a ballpark price of GEO ...
SpaceX - Breaking the $1000 per Pound Launch Cost Barrier ...
www.buildtheenterprise.org/spacex-breaking-the-1000-per-pound-launch-cost-barrier
May 27, 2013 - The three main reasons seem to be (1) low manufacturing cost
(2) low ... for the Heavy Lifter to be used for launching the Enterprise
components into space. ... on the SpaceX site should have an even lower
launch price per pound. ... and faring as raw meterials in orbit. the upper
stage consists of the most ...
How Much Does It Cost to Launch a Satellite? -- The Motley Fool
www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/.../how-much-does-it-cost-to-launch-a-satellite.aspx
Jun 24, 2016 - It cost upwards of $160 billion to put the International
Space Station ... the list of the several space companies that send
satellites into orbit: ... one of its Atlas V rockets costs $164 million,
while launch costs ... (But for the sake of comparison, that would be $30
million per ton, assuming a 100-pound payload, ...
How much does it cost to put 1 kilo into orbit? - Quora
https://www.quora.com/How-much-does-it-cost-to-put-1-kilo-into-orbit
I don't know of a way to launch a 1kg payload. One of the cheaper ways to
launch larger ... Why does it cost so much money to put people and cargo
into low earth orbit? How much fuel does it take to put a ... Written Oct
22, 2015. around $22,000 according to the $10,000 a pound estimate most
commonly given. 208 Views ...
'hard sci-fi" books. *
This article has a variety of figures.
"Here's how much money it actually costs to launch stuff into space
Sarah Kramer and Dave Mosher, Business Insider
Jul. 20, 2016, 10:08 AM
http://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-rocket-cargo-price-by-weight-2016-6
Early Wednesday morning, astronauts on board the International Space Station
(ISS) welcomed a Dragon capsule, SpaceX's uncrewed spacecraft, and the 5,000
lbs. of fresh cargo it carried.
The mission marks part of a new era for NASA, which stopped flying its space
shuttles in 2011 - and has since turned to the private sector for help in
shipping crucial supplies to and from the ISS, and ideally at a lower cost
than ever before.
But have space shipping costs since fallen?
To find out, we spoke to payload specialist and space station engineer Ravi
Margasahayam and crunched some numbers.
In 2008, NASA signed contracts with SpaceX and its rival aerospace company
Orbital Sciences, to the tune of $1.6 billion for 12 launches and $1.9
billion for eight rocket launches, respectively.
While these new missions cost hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars less
than a space shuttle launch, the price of sending cargo into space didn't go
down.
"My cost per pound went up with these rockets," Margasahayam told Tech
Insider. "On the shuttle, it would be much less." (Margasahayam spoke to
Tech Insider as a private citizen and engineer, rather than as a
representative of NASA.)
Margasahayam points out that, while the space shuttles were more expensive -
a whopping $500 million per launch (or possibly $1.5 billion, according to
one analysis we've seen) - each mission carried about 50,000 lbs. (plus
seven astronauts!). That means each pound of cargo used to cost about
$10,000 to ship on a shuttle.
Orbital Science's Cygnus spacecraft costs about $43,180 per pound to send
things up, dividing the $1.9 billion contract by the maximum 20 metric tons
of cargo the company is supposed to supply.
For SpaceX - the cheapest of NASA's new carriers - dividing the cost of each
launch ($133 million) by the cargo weight of its most recent resupply
mission (5,000 lbs.) gives you about $27,000 per pound.
But that's a high estimate. SpaceX told Tech Insider that its Dragon cargo
spacecraft launched on a Falcon 9 rocket can carry up to 7,300 lbs. - and
that you could bring just as much cargo back to Earth, too (something Cygnus
can't do). So if a Dragon is full of supplies at launch and on landing, the
cost dips to $9,100 per pound.
So what does it actually cost to send things into space today? We've
estimated the shipping costs of a few experiments, care packages, and
necessities of life that have made it to the space station below.
Bottle of water: $9,100 to $43,180
Water is necessary for life - but crazy expensive in space. A 16-ounce
bottle of water weighs about a pound, so it's a good baseline for how much
stuff costs to send to the space station: between $9,100 to $43,180.
NASA decided long ago that it was silly to send new water up there all the
time, especially since there's so much of it in the human body. So
astronauts on board the ISS now drink some water recycled from their
condensation, sweat, and urine.
70 mice: at least $29,860
-------------
Vegetable garden: more than $145,000
In 2015, astronauts aboard ISS got a very special treat: Real leafy greens,
grown locally - in space.
The experiment was about more than salad. Astronauts are studying the
effects of microgravity on plants. If we're going to ever send humans to
Mars, understanding how to grow veggies is going to be very, very important.
At 16 pounds, it's $145,600 to $690,900, which is just slightly more
expensive than a salad in Manhattan.
Lemons: more than $2,000 each
--------------
Does this sound ridiculously expensive?
By Earth standards, sure. But Margasahayam says it's worth it.
Experiments conducted on the space station have huge potential to teach us
about the human body and the future of space flight. Space programs like
NASA have led to huge leaves in technology that we use every day here on
Earth.
"NASA is the pinnacle of American ingenuity and engineering," Margasahayam
said. He also points out that NASA's budget is really very small compared to
other departments.
As we've written before, too, entrepreneur Elon Musk (who owns SpaceX) hopes
to bring the cost of shipping objects to space to less than $1,000 per
pound.
In the end, shipping stuff to the ISS is crazy expensive. But it also
represents international collaboration, scientific advancement, and
innovation - and that's priceless."
* like Arthur Clarke's "Imperial Earth", "2001 a Space Oddeyessy"
and "Rendevous with Rama" (where the earth's moon, Mars, and
Mercury are economicly 'independent' entities).
Meanwhile, here are a couple other cites:
launch - What is the current cost-per-pound to send something into ...
space.stackexchange.com/.../what-is-the-current-cost-per-pound-to-send-something-in...
Sep 16, 2013 - As a student of economics and finance I would love to learn
more about the cost structures of sending a payload into orbit. More
specifically -.
What is the current cost per kg to send something into GSO/GEO?
space.stackexchange.com/.../what-is-the-current-cost-per-kg-to-send-something-into-...
Sep 18, 2013 - We have a similar question in What is the current
cost-per-pound to send something into LEO? While launching to a Low Earth
Orbit (LEO) is of course expected to be ... operational orbital launchers
comes down to a factor of roughly 2:1. .... else than to compare price per
kg to LEO to a ballpark price of GEO ...
SpaceX - Breaking the $1000 per Pound Launch Cost Barrier ...
www.buildtheenterprise.org/spacex-breaking-the-1000-per-pound-launch-cost-barrier
May 27, 2013 - The three main reasons seem to be (1) low manufacturing cost
(2) low ... for the Heavy Lifter to be used for launching the Enterprise
components into space. ... on the SpaceX site should have an even lower
launch price per pound. ... and faring as raw meterials in orbit. the upper
stage consists of the most ...
How Much Does It Cost to Launch a Satellite? -- The Motley Fool
www.fool.com/investing/2016/06/.../how-much-does-it-cost-to-launch-a-satellite.aspx
Jun 24, 2016 - It cost upwards of $160 billion to put the International
Space Station ... the list of the several space companies that send
satellites into orbit: ... one of its Atlas V rockets costs $164 million,
while launch costs ... (But for the sake of comparison, that would be $30
million per ton, assuming a 100-pound payload, ...
How much does it cost to put 1 kilo into orbit? - Quora
https://www.quora.com/How-much-does-it-cost-to-put-1-kilo-into-orbit
I don't know of a way to launch a 1kg payload. One of the cheaper ways to
launch larger ... Why does it cost so much money to put people and cargo
into low earth orbit? How much fuel does it take to put a ... Written Oct
22, 2015. around $22,000 according to the $10,000 a pound estimate most
commonly given. 208 Views ...
Peter Trei
Feb 6, 2017, 2:27:42 PM2/6/17
to
On Monday, February 6, 2017 at 2:05:32 PM UTC-5, a425couple wrote:
> This subject is definitely at the core of many of the
> 'hard sci-fi" books. *
> This article has a variety of figures.
[...]
> This subject is definitely at the core of many of the
> 'hard sci-fi" books. *
> This article has a variety of figures.
> For SpaceX - the cheapest of NASA's new carriers - dividing the cost of each
> launch ($133 million) by the cargo weight of its most recent resupply
> mission (5,000 lbs.) gives you about $27,000 per pound.
>
> But that's a high estimate. SpaceX told Tech Insider that its Dragon cargo
> spacecraft launched on a Falcon 9 rocket can carry up to 7,300 lbs. - and
> that you could bring just as much cargo back to Earth, too (something Cygnus
> can't do). So if a Dragon is full of supplies at launch and on landing, the
> cost dips to $9,100 per pound.
That's still a high estimate. SpaceX charges NASA $133 million for a Falcon 9
> launch ($133 million) by the cargo weight of its most recent resupply
> mission (5,000 lbs.) gives you about $27,000 per pound.
>
> But that's a high estimate. SpaceX told Tech Insider that its Dragon cargo
> spacecraft launched on a Falcon 9 rocket can carry up to 7,300 lbs. - and
> that you could bring just as much cargo back to Earth, too (something Cygnus
> can't do). So if a Dragon is full of supplies at launch and on landing, the
> cost dips to $9,100 per pound.
launch, that's true. But it charges commercial satellite companies only $60
million. That's the extra cost of government red tape and certifications
(NASA is not-unreasonably touchy about anything which comes in contact with
the fragile, inhabited, tin can that is the ISS).
So you can cut that cost in half again, at least.
Also note that that 5000 lbs is the weight of the cargo inside the pressurized
cargo capsule - the F9 can actually lift over 20 tons to LEO, so a bigger
capsule could have been used.
pt
Robert Carnegie
Feb 6, 2017, 4:31:22 PM2/6/17
to
Can someone figure out for me what "huge leaves
in technology" means, besides, perhaps, huge trees?
in technology" means, besides, perhaps, huge trees?
Peter Trei
Feb 6, 2017, 4:49:57 PM2/6/17
to
On Monday, February 6, 2017 at 4:31:22 PM UTC-5, Robert Carnegie wrote:
> Can someone figure out for me what "huge leaves
> in technology" means, besides, perhaps, huge trees?
'leaps'
> Can someone figure out for me what "huge leaves
> in technology" means, besides, perhaps, huge trees?
pt
David Johnston
Feb 6, 2017, 5:09:18 PM2/6/17
to
On 2/6/2017 2:31 PM, Robert Carnegie wrote:
> Can someone figure out for me what "huge leaves
> in technology" means, besides, perhaps, huge trees?
>
That sounds like an autocorrect for "leaps".
> Can someone figure out for me what "huge leaves
> in technology" means, besides, perhaps, huge trees?
>
Robert Carnegie
Feb 6, 2017, 6:58:29 PM2/6/17
to
system of lunching stuff into space?
David Johnston
Feb 6, 2017, 7:26:48 PM2/6/17
to
technology on Earth.
Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy
Feb 6, 2017, 7:28:45 PM2/6/17
to
Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@excite.com> wrote in news:793b1da2-
c7eb-477c-b94...@googlegroups.com:
You really are stupid, aren't you?
--
Terry Austin
Vacation photos from Iceland:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/QaXQkB
"Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with more asshole."
-- David Bilek
Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.
c7eb-477c-b94...@googlegroups.com:
--
Terry Austin
Vacation photos from Iceland:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/QaXQkB
"Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with more asshole."
-- David Bilek
Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.
10313...@compuserve.com
Feb 8, 2017, 3:59:58 PM2/8/17
to
JimboCat
--
"There are 10 kinds of people; those who understand binary, and those who don't."
0 new messages