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Why an expendable vehicle instead of a reusable one? Aren reusable vehicles supposed to be a lot cheaper than expendables?

April 26, 2017cheaper expendable expendables reusable vehicle vehicles

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Why an expendable vehicle instead of a reusable one? Aren reusable vehicles supposed to be a lot cheaper than expendables?

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Not necessarily. While a reusable launch may be able to use the same hardware over multiple flights, the requirements for high performance, right tolerances, and long components lines, especially for single-stage-to-orbit vehicles, makes expendables very efficient.