Re: Could Falcon 9 compete with the Stick?

Ed Kyle wrote:

> Please then, Rand, explain to me how the inventors
> and investors from the same land that created and
> made billions off of the [PC, uP, ...],
> the Sport Utility Vehicle,
> the Big Mac, etc and etc, could not after almost 50 years have
> figured out how to launch stuff into low earth orbit
> for Less Than the Going Rate.
>
> What I want to know why no one *has* done it in all
> this time - the same time span during which all of
> the above ideas *have* been exploited.
>

The SUV as mentioned above is an interesting case. There is an SUV,
built to government specs, and sold to the government. It's called a
Hummer, and has a list price of about $115K. According to AutoByTel,
"The 2004 HUMMER H1 is a 4-door, 4-passenger sport-utility, available
in two trims, the Open Top 4 Door and the Wagon 4 Door. The 2004 HUMMER
H1's competitors include the Chevrolet Tahoe, the Infiniti QX56, and
the Volkswagen Touareg." The Chevy Tahoe has a list price of about
$35K, the Toureg about $37K, and the QX56 about $50K.

So in this case, when cost-conscious engineers have attempted the same
basic task they *have done so* for 30%-43% of the cost of the
military/government version. This is not viewgraphs or speculation -
this is actual bent metal, in production, available on the public
market.

If SpaceX can get similar percentage savings in their program, they
will get quite close to their target prices. I suspect the difference
is that price is an *important* factor when selling to the government,
but it's a *crucial* factor when selling to consumers. You can't argue
that it's impossible by noting that it has not been done - it's quite
possible that no-one has seriously tried.

Lou Scheffer

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Could Falcon 9 compete with the Stick?
    ... >built to government specs, ... and has a list price of about $115K. ...
    (sci.space.policy)
  • Re: Turmoil at Indystar
    ... but US dealers were ordered not to sell ... at the US list price cars ... are still selling for upwards of 10 or 20 grand more that in the US. ... busisness as car sales. ...
    (alt.sports.football.pro.ne-patriots)
  • Re: did i over pay?
    ... A E Bike was selling KH 24's for 417 $ not so long ago. ... They advertise ... full list price, but will sell below that if you email them and ask for ...
    (rec.sport.unicycling)
  • Re: GSXR750 mini review
    ... "bang per buck" ratio is outstanding these days. ... It was substantially less than list price. ... what where they selling it for? ...
    (uk.rec.motorcycles)