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In article <C0HJEq.DrA.1@cs.cmu.edu> roberts@cmr.ncsl.nist.gov (John Roberts) writes:

>->(And if these incidental payloads were not subsidized, the market
>->might be even smaller.)

>-Not so. If NASA implements the voucher system authorized in last years
>-authorization bill they could launch more payloads for less cost. 

>I was thinking of the commercial (rather than government) payload market.

That's the rub. The governemnt launches (some of which are commercial)
account for well over half the market. It it all swiched to commercial,
we wold see at least a 30% reduction in cost to orbit.

>The Shuttle has lots of "nooks and crannies" for small payloads, and if
>the government is using the Shuttle anyway for the large payloads and
>human-tended experiments, then there's very little marginal cost to the
>government in also using the Shuttle for small payloads

But at what cost? Providing these people subsidies to fly Shuttle only
kills alternatives like ISF and Commet. All we are doing is keeping
the expensive system and killing the cheaper alternatives. I submit
that this is a bad idea.

What's wrong with vouchers? That way the users are encouraged to use
the cheapest service available. Doint this will cut costs and allow
more payloads to fly. It will encourage the creation of cheaper
alternatives and help everybody.

>which need to be returned to Earth after several days in orbit), 

Why do you assume that Shuttle is the one and only way to do that?
If your correct, then the voucher holders will pick Shuttle. If not,
then a market suddenly exists to provide these services.

>You seem to be implying that the market even for small payloads is almost
>exclusively government-funded - that the private sector for the most part
>just isn't interested in launches of small payloads - because if there were
>a private market, and if commercial launchers were cheaper to the customer
>even with the subsidized prices of GAS cans, etc. on the Shuttle, then the
>private customers would choose the private launchers even with the current
>setup.

Except that Shuttle distorts the market. It makes it seem much smaller
than it actually is. This slows or halts the competition which reduces
costs. Vouchers wold open the whole makret to competition.

  Allen

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| Allen W. Sherzer | "A great man is one who does nothing but leaves        |
|  aws@iti.org     |  nothing undone"                                       |
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