[gurps] [VEHICLE] of the week 759 - OHI Automated Heavy Lift Shuttle

[Onno Meyer]

> > No way a disposable system can compete with this shuttle. The
> > shuttle costs $8 per pound of payload. $8 per pound for a new
> > shuttle, not per flight.
> >
> > The parachute would be $0.1 per pound. Say the parachute is a
> > quarter of the total cost, and the shuttle would have to last
> > a mere 20 flights to pay for itself ...
> 
> 
> Are there no per-trip costs for the shuttle? Sure, water and RTGs are
> cheap,
> but not *free*. There's service time, plus even if the water's free,
> someone's got to put it in the tanks, they probably want money for that.
> 
> -- 
> chuk

There are also per-trip costs for the drop pods (retrieval, for 
one). I can't give you the exact figure, which probably depends 
on local conditions, but the order-of-magnitude should give an 
indication that disposables are not cost-efficient. Say the 
water for the shuttle is as expensive as the tug for the pod, 
and the maintenance for each flight is 2.5% of sticker price, 
and the shuttle pays for itself after 40 flights, not 20. Both
trivial numbers for a technology that is as mature as jet 
airliners are today.

Onno