🚀 go-pugleaf

David Anderman writes:
>The Space Shuttle is simply the highest cost (per pound) launch
>vehicle ever operated.
  
    ** Sigh **  This seems to have become a net legend --
unfortunately it does not seem to be supported by fact.  I've seen
this statement made numerous times over the past year or so in
sci.space, but based upon a little bit of research, it seems to be
wrong.
   To repeat what I posted about a month ago....
  
    David could you provide some data to support this statement?
For example, Pegasus costs about $14.5 M to put about 950 lbs in 150
nmi circular 28.5 deg LEO orbit (Cost from the price for the SCD-1
launch, planned for 1st quarter 1993, performance from the Pegasus
Users Manual).  That's about $15,000/lb.
    In comparison, Shuttle costs (depending on your source) about
$350-500 M per launch. (As a check on this cost/flight range, the FY
1992 NASA budget numbers for shuttle operating costs came to about $
3.2 B, and there were a total of 8 flights flown in 1992, which
gives about $ 400 M/flt, which is within the cost band I'm using).
For a 50,000 lb shuttle payload delivered to 150 nmi 28.5 deg
circular orbit, that's about $7000 -10,000 /lb.  (Note: shuttle
fleet average performance to 150 nmi, 28.5 deg circ orbit is
actually about 56,000 lbs -- so, again I'm being conservative about
shuttle cost $/lb)
   Titan IV, capable of putting about 32,000 lbs to the same orbit
(note the T-IV performance is corrected to put payloads into 150 nmi
28.5 deg circular orbits) is currently running about $360 M per unit
(Cost data from the Oct 92 DoD Selected Acquisition Reports), which
yields about $11,200 /lb.
   From these data points, I think the statement "the most expensive
per pound in orbit of all current launch vehicles" is incorrect.
  
   If you have better data, I would greatly appreciate it if you
could post it.
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 Wales Larrison                         Space Technology Investor
  

--- Maximus 2.01wb