• Question: How much does all of the parts cost for one rocket?

    Asked by DJSAlfie to Stephen on 9 Mar 2017.
    • Photo: Stephen Pulker

      Stephen Pulker answered on 9 Mar 2017:


      I’m not sure of the exact figures but as an example the cost to launch an Ariane 5 is eur 165 – 220 million (depending on the exact type)!!! That will cover the parts costs but also other things like engineer / scientist costs, insurance and profit for the launch company. So the direct costs for the parts will be less.
      Worth noting that the parts cost for anything will be higher if you build only one or a very few of them as a lot of the “value” in a part is the design effort that goes into it. A one off build would need to recoup this cost across only one sale so the cost would be high . . . but if you made spaceship like we make cars . . . then the design cost can be spread over lots and lots of rebuilds.

      So, to answer your question, the costs for a single rocket can vary a lot depending on what you need it to do and whether or not a suitable rocket already exists.

Comments