Space transport economics
From NewMarsWiki
For economic purposes, transport from Earth to interesting solar system locations may be considered in stages.
Contents
Earth to Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
Three economic targets are considered:
- Minimum cost to LEO, with negotiable payload.
- Maximum payload to LEO, with negotiable cost.
- Minimum cost per kg, with negotiable individual launch cost and payload.
| Cost | Payload | $/kg | ||
| Today | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta II (US) | $45M | 5.1 tons | $9300/kg | |
| Space Shuttle (US) | $270M | 24.4 tons | $11000/kg | |
| Ikar-1 (Russia) | $6M | 4.2 tons | $1900/kg | |
| Proton (Russia) | $50M | 20.9 tons | $2900/kg | |
| Near Future | Invest. Req. | |||
| Falcon 1 (SpaceX) | $6.7M | 0.57 tons | $11700/kg | |
| Falcon 9 - S9 (SpaceX) | $78M | 24.7 tons | $3200/kg | |
| Energia (Russia) | 88 tons | |||
| Far Future | Invest. Req. | |||
| Space Elevator | $40M | 20 tons | $2/kg | $100B |
