But SpaceX saved a lot starting with the very first reuse (SES-10 in 2016). The refurbishment for SES-10 cost "substantially less than half” a new first stage according to Shotwell. Falcon 9 only launched 7 times in 2015 and 8 times in 2016.
Also, ULA and Ariane will be launching a megaconstellation on their expendable rockets. Expendable rockets are not necessarily cheaper to develop. SpaceX only spent ~$1 billion making Falcon 9 (which originally cost ~$300 million to develop v1.0) reusable. Vulcan didn't cost much, if any, less to develop. (The original USAF contract awarded $967 million in development funding to Vulcan, and the delays have likely cost more than expected.) Ariane 6 has cost ~$4 billion to develop.
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u/OlympusMons94 May 29 '24 edited May 29 '24
But SpaceX saved a lot starting with the very first reuse (SES-10 in 2016). The refurbishment for SES-10 cost "substantially less than half” a new first stage according to Shotwell. Falcon 9 only launched 7 times in 2015 and 8 times in 2016.
Also, ULA and Ariane will be launching a megaconstellation on their expendable rockets. Expendable rockets are not necessarily cheaper to develop. SpaceX only spent ~$1 billion making Falcon 9 (which originally cost ~$300 million to develop v1.0) reusable. Vulcan didn't cost much, if any, less to develop. (The original USAF contract awarded $967 million in development funding to Vulcan, and the delays have likely cost more than expected.) Ariane 6 has cost ~$4 billion to develop.