

SpaceX's mega-rocket to debut next year at pad 39A - sasvari
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1404/15pad39a/

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avmich
I'm quite curious to know what this rocket is going to be used for. Say, next
5-10 years.

Saturn-V was used for an important national program, where money weren't the
option. N-1 was closed after 4 unsuccessful flights. Energia flew only twice.
Shuttle flew for long time, but it was expensive, political and at a time even
the only option.

All other rockets had LEO payloads under 25 tons. That helped them to be
cheaper, which, in turn, helped to prolong their operational life.

SpaceX can't afford to have an expensive rocket. To fly only occasionally is
dangerous - reliability may suffer. To fly frequent... Where they're going to
get payloads for that? 50+ tons - that's a lot these days. Unless price per
launch will be quite comparable to other launchers and reliability on par,
F-9H may be left without paying customers. And to launch this rocket cheap may
prove unwise for the company which is making it.

