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http://dx.doi.org/10.6108/KSPE.2019.23.4.001

Impacts of Payload Weights on the Cost Effectiveness of Reusable Launch Vehicles  

Yang, Soo Seok (AeroPropulsion Office, Korea Aerospace Research Institute)
Publication Information
Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers / v.23, no.4, 2019 , pp. 1-9 More about this Journal
Abstract
Recently, in the space market, there has been a rapid reduction of the launch price. The major reason is that a few commercial companies, especially SpaceX, began to enter into the space market about ten years ago, which has changed the space market from monopolization to competition, and accelerated the adoption of commercial efficiency in the technology and management. Also, the successful landing and recovery of a first stage in 2016 by SpaceX proved to be a prelude to opening a new era of reusable launch vehicles, and SpaceX declared the groundbreaking launch price through using the reusable launch vehicle. This study calculates the total launch cost required to put a certain satellite into the LEO, compares the launch cost in three cases with different payload weights, and reviews the impacts of the payload on the cost effectiveness of a reusable vehicle. The total launch cost is divided into 6 subsections cost, namely development cost, production cost, refurbishment cost, operation cost, fixed-cost of factory and launch site, and insurance cost. The cost estimation relationships used in the calculation are taken from the commonly proven cost models such as TRANSCOST.
Keywords
Reusable Launch Vehicle; Launch Cost; Cost Estimation Relationship; Refurbishment Cost;
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