Does cost to orbit make the sale for a satellite launch service?

Question

Wikipedia writes to say

...The Space Race sparked unprecedented increases in spending on education and pure research, which accelerated scientific advancements and led to beneficial spin-off technologies. ...

A few such technologies may be

• Meteorology
• Remote Sensing
• Communications
• Science Missions
  • ISS
  • Hubble
  • DSN

Perhaps communications, and remote sensing Satellites form the bulk of any commercial launch payload.

In the early days few organizations/nations were capable of deploying to orbit. As of 2013 several nations may contract to deliver a payload to orbit ; USA, Russia, India, France, Japan to name a few. Similarly Lockheed, Virgin Galactic, SpaceX, Sea Launch form a small sample of private organizations headed into orbit - if not deep space, or transplanet.

With a virtual smörgåsbord of options to choose from, these few factors came to mind that may be relevant

• Track Record of the launcher
• Cost per kilogram to orbit
• Insurance/Liability in the event of failure to fulfil commitment

Questions:

• Does cost to orbit make/break the sale for a satellite launch service?

Answer 1

There are a number of factors when choosing who to launch your satellites. Some of the key factors are:

1. Cost
2. Time schedule (Will they keep their schedule to build your rocket?
3. Payload capacity (Both size and weight)
4. How closely they can get you to your desired orbit.
5. ITAR or other export restrictions (It's easier to launch from the US if your satellite was built in the US)
6. Track record (New rockets, or recently re-designed rockets, are usually cheaper for a few flights). This factors significantly in to the insurance cost as well.

Of these, you first select the rockets that meet your orbital insertion requirements for your mass, and then you pick either cost or launch schedule, depending on which is more important depends for the company or organization. I won't give any specifics away, but there are some launch providers which are known to have a lower cost, but you aren't guaranteed the launch window you want, while others have a higher cost, but they will launch closer to your launch day. The rockets launched with the cheaper rocket launch service tend to be small companies, whereas the ones launched more reliably tend to be larger organizations.