Is a launch cost of $1000 per pound to orbit possible?
It is certainly conceivable that we could get to $1,000 per pound, but it will require a significant increase in demand for launches or some technological breakthroughs for current levels of demand. If demand does increase substantially, a reusable launch vehicle with a very high flight rate could easily achieve $1,000 per pound with today’s technology. Till then the average price to get to the geo-stationary earth orbit (GEO) is more like $10,000 per pound of payload. Is there any distinct trend you see in satellite manufacturing, launch, ground equipment and ground service industries? There are many trends in each of these industries. For many years, the trend in satellite manufacturing has been the increasing size of the average satellite. Satellites have been getting more massive, with more transponders, more power, and a longer lifetime. Launch vehicles have also followed this trend. However, both of these trends seem to be tapering off somewhat. What impact will the current slowd
