Questions tagged [cost]
Questions regarding the amount of money required to perform or sustain space exploration.
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What was the point of Nova expendable SSTOs?
Encyclopedia Astronautica lists several designs proposed by contractors for NASA's Nova million pound lifter project. This includes 4 expendable SSTOs - including one air-augmented vehicle.
But why ...
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What is the cost per kilogram to the lunar surface?
I am trying to understand what the actual cost per kg is to the lunar surface. Various sources quote various values ($ = USD):
$1.2M for an Astrobotic rideshare
$1M for an Intuitive Machines ...
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Was TESS an opportunity for a "big dumb satellite"?
TESS weighed an order of magnitude less than the dry mass of the Falcon 9 second stage, used virtually none of the fayring space, yet cost more than twice as much as the entire launch. This is strange....
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What would a "big dumb satellite" be like?
One of the key premises of the BDB/RLV model is that it will lead to cheap, low tech, but relatively heavy spacecraft designs. To avoid being too broad for the guidelines, I will narrow the question ...
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Would it be cheaper to single-shot space stations with purpose-built expendable rockets?
I just did the math, and realized that the cost per kg ($200,000).of the ISS was much higher than any launch vehicle. Meaning that, even under the highly unfavorable conditions that prevailed (shuttle,...
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Which operating space telescopes has the Trump administration proposed to "switch off"?
Ground based ones too. See The Washington Post's April 12, 2025 Massive cuts to NASA science proposed in early White House budget plan.
The Hubble and Webb space telescopes would remain supported ...
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Has the continued monitoring of the Voyagers probes been in danger of being discontinued, and if so, how many times?
I assume the continued monitoring of the Voyager probes has been part of the annual NASA appropriations and authorization, NASA Appropriations and Authorizations: A Fact Sheet, for example.
Have there ...
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Is Elon’s “Idiot Index” an over-simplification?
Edit: this question was originally closed because it is "not related to space exploration". However, SpaceX's major achievement is reducing the launch cost for space exploration. Elon ...
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What is SpaceX doing differently with their Falcon 9 so that it doesn't cost as much as the Space Shuttle?
SpaceX has been launching and reusing their Falcon 9 for very cheaply quite often. Even though it is quite revolutionary, it is isn't the first time a rocket has been reused. The Space Shuttle side ...
user47291
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Does it economically cost the same to launch a satellite into LEO and GTO?
I was doing some research about how much $/kg it costs to launch a satellite into GEO. I came across several sources that lists info for LEO:
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/cost-space-launches-low-...
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How much does air on the ISS cost?
I was reading an article which broke down some of the methods of oxygen creation on the ISS. This was in response to my daughter commenting that "air is free," and being curious about ...
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Why aren't more companies manufacturing the RS-25 (Space Shuttle Main Engine)?
The RS-25 is a great engine with a terrific ISP. It was used 42 years ago (on April 12th 1981) for the first Space Shuttle flight; therefore, the most of the patents on it must have expired long ago. ...
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Cost and quantity of space mission in 2020s vs 1980s?
Today we have 50 times as many satellites in orbit as in the 1980s and the price of space equipment has come down; however, we have a thousand times fewer satellites orbiting far away space bodies ...
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Mass Breakdown of Apollo CSM by Subsystems? (also Cost Breakdown)
I am looking for a mass breakdown of the Apollo Command and Service Module by subsystems, like this Lunar Module's chart from the NASA publication After LM. I am particularly interested in how much of ...
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Which 6 spacecraft had the biggest effect on pushing the “Final Frontier?”
I am planning a 6-lecture course on Space Exploration for our local Elder College. It is aimed at a motivated audience with general knowledge in science. The objective is to generate interest in Space ...
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