Timeline for Cost per launch to ISS: Starliner vs Crew Dragon
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
13 events
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| Sep 21, 2021 at 17:07 | comment | added | 8bittree | @JörgWMittag Cheaper for whom? I'm sure Boeing doesn't care about the cost if NASA's footing the bill. And I suspect quite a few influential politicians (possibly despite claims to the contrary) don't care about the cost either, as long as the right "generous donors" or "local employers" get the contracts. I suppose if Boeing wanted to get into the space tourism industry, cost might become an issue, but have they indicated any interest there? | |
| Sep 21, 2021 at 15:53 | comment | added | Sheldon | @JörgWMittag What is the launch capacity of the Atlas N22 used for the StarLiner vs the Falcon 9-FT used for the Crew Dragon? wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_orbital_launch_systems says the Falcon 9-FT has more capacity ?? So maybe there isn't much if any extra cargo capacity for Starliner vs CrewDragon? | |
| Sep 21, 2021 at 9:31 | vote | accept | Sheldon | ||
| Sep 21, 2021 at 5:37 | history | edited | Jörg W Mittag | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Add comment about Starliner launching on Falcon 9
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| Sep 21, 2021 at 5:32 | comment | added | Jörg W Mittag | In other words: capabilities that NASA is not using are irrelevant when assessing the launch cost to NASA. | |
| Sep 21, 2021 at 5:32 | comment | added | Jörg W Mittag | @Mark: Starliner is also designed for 7 seats. This is irrelevant, though, because the cost for NASA per astronaut is whatever NASA is paying for the launch divided by 4, since NASA will only ever use 4 of the seats. IFF NASA is indeed packing more cargo into Starliner than into Crew Dragon (I don't know the answer to this, although it is plausible since Starliner is bigger than Crew Dragon and Atlas V N22 (which is always fully expended) is more capable than Falcon 9 reusable), it would certainly be fair to take that into account when comparing launch costs. | |
| Sep 20, 2021 at 23:49 | comment | added | Mark | If Boeing insists on counting the extra cargo capacity when calculating Starliner's cost per astronaut, they should also insist on counting Crew Dragon's second row of seats. | |
| Sep 20, 2021 at 20:18 | comment | added | Jörg W Mittag | @8bittree: I'm willing to bet that even with the "employee discount" it is cheaper to reuse a rocket than to trash it. | |
| Sep 20, 2021 at 15:36 | comment | added | 8bittree | "what's the point in paying a fortune to ULA when you can have a crew-rated cheaper reusable rocket with the same engines?" - Are you accounting for the fact that Boeing owns 50% of ULA here? I'm not saying Boeing won't pick Blue Origin over ULA, but this line makes it sound like Boeing has no stake whatsoever in ULA. | |
| Sep 20, 2021 at 12:27 | comment | added | Slarty | Obviously cost to NASA is price to SpaceX. What the cost is to SpaceX is not publicly known with any clarity. | |
| Sep 20, 2021 at 6:50 | comment | added | Heopps | About "is NASA obligated to pay Boeing" - as far as I know the payments are "milestone based". So the development plan of Starliner has milestones, achievements to reach, and the reaching of every milestone results in a fixed payment. If Boeing has no progress, NASA doesn't pay. | |
| Sep 19, 2021 at 20:33 | vote | accept | Sheldon | ||
| Sep 19, 2021 at 20:35 | |||||
| Sep 19, 2021 at 19:47 | history | answered | Jörg W Mittag | CC BY-SA 4.0 |