Report: SLI-developed RLV could have cost $35 billion
Posted: Mon, Dec 23, 2002, 10:15 AM ET (1515 GMT)
The full cost to develop a second-generation reusable launch vehicle (RLV) under NASA's Space Launch Initiative (SLI) could have cost $35 billion, Florida Today reported Sunday. The article cited Bush administration budget documents in which NASA concluded that the cost to build a full-fledged RLV designed to replace the space shuttle would have far exceeded the $10 billion originally estimated when SLI started. NASA commissioned four independent cost reviews which each found that the cost to develop the RLV would have approached $30-35 billion. NASA had planned to split the costs of developing the RLV with industry, but the near collapse of the commercial launch market since the late 1990s made it unlikely that private companies could afford any significant investment in such a project. Those extraordinarily high costs were the reason why NASA announced last month it was restructuring SLI, essentially ending efforts to develop a second-generation RLV for the foreseeable future.
The full cost to develop a second-generation reusable launch vehicle (RLV) under NASA's Space Launch Initiative (SLI) could have cost $35 billion, Florida Today reported Sunday. The article cited Bush administration budget documents in which NASA concluded that the cost to build a full-fledged RLV designed to replace the space shuttle would have far exceeded the $10 billion originally estimated when SLI started. NASA commissioned four independent cost reviews which each found that the cost to develop the RLV would have approached $30-35 billion. NASA had planned to split the costs of developing the RLV with industry, but the near collapse of the commercial launch market since the late 1990s made it unlikely that private companies could afford any significant investment in such a project. Those extraordinarily high costs were the reason why NASA announced last month it was restructuring SLI, essentially ending efforts to develop a second-generation RLV for the foreseeable future.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Sunday, February 23
AAC Clyde Space presents INFLECION: Safer Oceans, Smarter Shipping, and Greener Future
AAC Clyde Space — 1:45 pm ET (1845 GMT) European Commission Supports Atmos With €13.1 Million EIC Funding
Atmos Space Cargo — 1:44 pm ET (1844 GMT) Welcoming Head of Product to Dominate Innovation Across Navigation and Autonomy
Advanced Navigation — 1:42 pm ET (1842 GMT) Mystery of 'remarkable' cosmic explosion that lay hidden for years
Royal Astronomical Society — 1:41 pm ET (1841 GMT) DESI Uncovers 300 New Intermediate-Mass Black Holes Plus 2500 New Active Black Holes in Dwarf Galaxies
National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory — 1:40 pm ET (1840 GMT) |
