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[Eric Berger] Rocket Report: Era of cheap launch is over? Astra sets early 2027 target for return
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threelonmusketeers sh.itjust.works threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2023-06-10
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threelonmusketeers Moderator threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2023-06-10
#2 · Quote Reply

I don't think cheap launch is "over". There might be a slight increase in prices as Falcon 9 winds down, but New Glenn, Neutron, Nova, all seem poised to take its place. The "chomper" variant of Starship would also suffice, though that may not be SpaceX's priority at the moment.

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Cocodapuf lemmy.world Cocodapuf@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-10-06
#3 · (edited) Quote Reply

Clearly, the cheap era of rocket launch is yet to begin.

With starship, the goal is to have a launch vehicle with a payload to orbit over 10x greater than falcon 9, and a comparable if not lower launch costs.

And they aren't the only company working on fully or mostly reusable launch systems. I expect Rocket Lab's Neutron rocket to be the new hotness in low cost launches. They have a fully reusable first stage and a very inexpensive second stage. Stoke isn't quite there yet (but looks very promising). Who knows if relativity space will produce something. I believe Firefly is approaching something real, their engines certainly work great, they're selling them to other launch providers as well.

But my point is, there are a lot of players working on this right now, falcon 9 proved it was possible, and others are taking a stab at it. And with the Falcon 9 off the market now, there's even more room for these other players to shine.

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