Comments on: SpaceX wins NASA satellite launch contract

By: geoffc

geoffc — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 14:14:25 +0000

SpaceX in the past has said that the basic launch cost is the 60 million or so quoted. But for DoD and NASA launches they have additional ‘mission assurance’ requirements that add to the cost. So they pay for it.

Basically it is cover your a** paperwork, so you know who to blame for stuff if anything happens.

So a commercial company launching a 200 million dollar satellite does not need it, but NASA launching a similar mission does. Hmm….

Government makes everything better!

By: Tom Billings

Tom Billings — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 07:19:29 +0000

Word is out that SWOT range tracking and payload processing by someone *other* than SpaceX are included in that $112 million total. So, it’s not that SpaceX is charging more, but that NASA is spreading the money around. An environmental sat is likely to be in a polar or sun-synchronous orbit, and launched from Vandenburg. Partners are Canada and France, so some of the money is likely going there

By: wodun

wodun — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 02:44:06 +0000

However, it then spends a lot more money trying to reassure itself that everything is perfect.

Funny.

But it also raises the possibility that the cost/price difference is because SpaceX has to deal with NASA’s operational demands.

By: Robert Zimmerman

Robert Zimmerman — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 02:15:24 +0000

In reply to Cotour. Cotour: I could be wrong, but it is my understanding that NASA self-insures itself. However, it then spends a lot more money trying to reassure itself that everything is perfect.

By: Cotour

Cotour — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 02:04:07 +0000

How about for an additional insurance premium?