

Low Earth Orbit on the Cheap - coderdude
http://www.dunnspace.com/leo_on_the_cheap.htm

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coderdude
Under the Conclusions section:

"The United States needs a means of space access that costs much less than the
current launch systems. Foreign competition continues to chip away at the US
commercial launch industry. A dramatic expansion in military, civil, and
_commercial space initiatives_ could help fuel a technology-based economic
revitalization in the United States, but this expansion will not come about
unless _drastic reductions in space launch costs_ are achieved." (emphases
mine)

SpaceX has done a lot towards meeting the goal of providing drastically
cheaper launch vehicles. Their cost per launch is far cheaper than what NASA
was able to deliver. Even in 1994 it was apparent that commercial space flight
would -- at least in part -- be the key to keeping the United States in space.

------
Sudarshan
From the article:

    
    
       The Russians have achieved a low-cost, reliable launch capability because,

first of all, they used simple, damage-tolerant designs that were less than
optimum by Western standards (from a performance and weight minimiza- tion
standpoint). The Soviet boosters and their subsystems were designed to be
highly modular, allowing vehicle customization for various missions with- out
always requiring completely new launch systems. Soviet launcher modu- larity
also provided the opportunity for large manufacturing economies of scale for
many components. Either because of pragmatic engineering judg- ment or because
of economic necessity, the Soviets reused existing designs for decades, making
minor modifications only when necessary. Their launch operations emphasize
off-line processing and minimum pad time; and their simple, rugged launch
vehicles have required minimal launch pad testing. Also, Russian boosters have
enjoyed high launch rates, thus en- hancing manufacturing economies of scale
and driving unit costs down. It is interesting to speculate on how well US
industries would do if they applied these simple factors in a completely
commercially-driven venture. After all, the reliable, low-cost Russian launch
capability has been built by a country in which inefficiency and waste have
been historically endemic.

~~~
iwwr
The curse of having too much money perhaps?

------
mindstab
1994 - A little dated. Interesting to see where we went in difference to the
article

