Space Is Expensive ... WHY?
- noelcgreene
- May 28, 2024
- 3 min read
Everyone wants to know why the hell do space flights cost so much. It costs $450,000 for a suborbital flight at Virgin Galactic. It takes 5 million to take Crew Dragon to the ISS, and it won't be a surprise if Blue Origin's services are any more expensive. So why the extravagant prices?
One of the main reasons is that spaceflight companies lack the hardware capable of matching the vigorous market. Currently, companies like Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are trying to increase the number of suborbital vehicles to accommodate their waiting lists. By collecting data, and logistics from these expensive flights, space companies can streamline their processes for manufacturing vehicles at a mass scale. Virgin Galactic's CEO Micheal Colglazier discussed the importance of integrating data from their VSS Unity craft to their third generation VSS Imagine spaceship.
Virgin Galactic unveils VSS Imagine: Virgin. Virgin.com. (n.d.). https://www.virgin.com/about-virgin/latest/virgin-galactic-unveils-vss-imagine
" We find ways to maintain, and have the ship fly more quickly than we were able to do before. That's really critical because we want to fly these lots of times every year ". Micheal Colglazier YouTube. (2023, January 12). Virgin galactic - what CEO Michael Colglazier says about the VSS IMAGINE!!. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OzTXnX4cvs&list=WL&index=19
Former Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith talked about being limited in supply in a demand heavy market. In other words, the space industry currently lacks the hardware availability to keep up with consumer demand. "There is a proliferation of space systems" Smith says. New Glenn, Starship, Vulcan, Dream chaser, Space Neptune, Orbital Reef, SLS, Orion, Starlink; James Webb Telescope, and many more are names of space systems being developed or are currently used in the market. Despite the number of companies participating in the commercial enterprise, the struggle to accommodate the demand in the market remains a daunting challenge.
" I'm concerned that in the period of 2024, 2025, and 2026 we're going to have a supply shortage. We're going to have more demand, which is a great place to be, but it's one where we have to make sure we structure our acquisition approach for national security launch to make sure it can access the growing capacity of the industry to a way that it hasn't done before". Bob Smith YouTube. (2023, January 12). Virgin galactic - what CEO Michael Colglazier says about the VSS IMAGINE!!. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OzTXnX4cvs&list=WL&index=19
With commercial space investments increasing, the demand to access space grows. Unfortunately, space systems development is risky, and needs a great deal of capital to maintain a profitable business.
Another reason space travel is expensive is that it's a difficult industry to make profitable. Spaceflight is R&D heavy, and R&D is expensive. If people want safe, reliable, and efficient vehicles...then companies have to put their products through rigorous testing. Not to mention properly scaling their companies to match the demands of the market. Where are the companies going to manufacture their vehicles? What facilities do they need to ensure safe, and efficient testing? How much will the company pay the engineers? If a project is growing, how is the company going to maintain their employees? Where is the space company going to test their product? What about accident insurance? Can the company meet the demands of the investors on time? Is the business model profitable to make a profit while testing, researching, employing, and developing?
These are questions space companies must consider in order to create a business model that's profitable. Maintaining the research in this industry itself is very risky as it is. So, when these companies charge $450,000 for a sub-orbital flight, keep in mind the factors of running a successful business. To make spaceflight cheaper the flight cadence needs to increase. The less you have of something, the more that needs to be charged. Once space companies master the tech to develop their spaceships, they can create the needed hardware to make spaceflights cheaper.
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