Why is SpaceX not creating its own launch vehicle for small satellites?












6















With a (predicted) $5.5 Billion dollar market, why isn't SpaceX trying to build its own 'mini launch vehicles'? With the brand and the technology they have, they can easily capture a huge chunk of the market.










share|improve this question

























  • The cost of a rocket does not scale linearly with payload mass. The cost and weight for electronics will be about the same for a smaller rocket. Therefore using the same rocket for launch of many small satellites together may be cheaper. Using the same launch vehicle instead of developing a new one saves a lot of money.

    – Uwe
    Dec 28 '18 at 12:36


















6















With a (predicted) $5.5 Billion dollar market, why isn't SpaceX trying to build its own 'mini launch vehicles'? With the brand and the technology they have, they can easily capture a huge chunk of the market.










share|improve this question

























  • The cost of a rocket does not scale linearly with payload mass. The cost and weight for electronics will be about the same for a smaller rocket. Therefore using the same rocket for launch of many small satellites together may be cheaper. Using the same launch vehicle instead of developing a new one saves a lot of money.

    – Uwe
    Dec 28 '18 at 12:36
















6












6








6


1






With a (predicted) $5.5 Billion dollar market, why isn't SpaceX trying to build its own 'mini launch vehicles'? With the brand and the technology they have, they can easily capture a huge chunk of the market.










share|improve this question
















With a (predicted) $5.5 Billion dollar market, why isn't SpaceX trying to build its own 'mini launch vehicles'? With the brand and the technology they have, they can easily capture a huge chunk of the market.







spacex rockets launch-vehicle small-launch-vehicles






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Dec 28 '18 at 10:21







Amar

















asked Dec 28 '18 at 10:15









AmarAmar

1,041528




1,041528













  • The cost of a rocket does not scale linearly with payload mass. The cost and weight for electronics will be about the same for a smaller rocket. Therefore using the same rocket for launch of many small satellites together may be cheaper. Using the same launch vehicle instead of developing a new one saves a lot of money.

    – Uwe
    Dec 28 '18 at 12:36





















  • The cost of a rocket does not scale linearly with payload mass. The cost and weight for electronics will be about the same for a smaller rocket. Therefore using the same rocket for launch of many small satellites together may be cheaper. Using the same launch vehicle instead of developing a new one saves a lot of money.

    – Uwe
    Dec 28 '18 at 12:36



















The cost of a rocket does not scale linearly with payload mass. The cost and weight for electronics will be about the same for a smaller rocket. Therefore using the same rocket for launch of many small satellites together may be cheaper. Using the same launch vehicle instead of developing a new one saves a lot of money.

– Uwe
Dec 28 '18 at 12:36







The cost of a rocket does not scale linearly with payload mass. The cost and weight for electronics will be about the same for a smaller rocket. Therefore using the same rocket for launch of many small satellites together may be cheaper. Using the same launch vehicle instead of developing a new one saves a lot of money.

– Uwe
Dec 28 '18 at 12:36












3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes


















14














They already have one. The Falcon 9. Earlier this month a single Falcon 9 put 64 smallsats on orbit. It was arranged by a rideshare company, Spaceflight, at prices that small launch vehicles would have a hard time competing with, starting at $300,000.






share|improve this answer

































    2














    Everything SpaceX does is in service of Elon Musk's ultimate goal of retiring to Mars. The Falcon 9 was a stepping stone, developing a separate small launcher would take a lot of development effort that doesn't help the ultimate goal.



    Their plan involves moving all payloads to the BFR, a reusable spaceship that could be more economical than throwing away a small rocket on every launch.






    share|improve this answer

































      2














      They already dipped their toes in that, it was called Falcon 1. Basically they didn't find enough demand to justify keeping it around. Granted today there is more of a demand for such then there was in the past, but...



      The ultimate solution will be Starship (BFR). The estimated cost of a single launch is about $6 million. An Electron rocket costs $5 million. The amount of payload that Starship can take to LEO is VASTLY larger then an Electron rocket.



      As for the $5.5 billion market size, that would include building and launching them. Let's say there is 100 launches per year, that would only come to a $1 billion launch cost of total launches per year. They could do it, but there is a limit to how much engineering they can do, and it is more worth their while to go after the bigger fishes of Starlink and Starship.






      share|improve this answer



















      • 1





        “The estimated cost of a single [BFR] launch is about $6 million.” I’d be very skeptical of that. Let’s see how well the Falcon 9 Block 5 does first.

        – Michael
        Dec 28 '18 at 20:20






      • 1





        @Michael though it's worth noting the BFR will likely be able to achieve lower costs than the F9B5 every will, due higher reusability % and focus.

        – NPSF3000
        Dec 28 '18 at 23:08











      Your Answer





      StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
      return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
      StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
      StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
      });
      });
      }, "mathjax-editing");

      StackExchange.ready(function() {
      var channelOptions = {
      tags: "".split(" "),
      id: "508"
      };
      initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

      StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
      // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
      if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
      StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
      createEditor();
      });
      }
      else {
      createEditor();
      }
      });

      function createEditor() {
      StackExchange.prepareEditor({
      heartbeatType: 'answer',
      autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
      convertImagesToLinks: false,
      noModals: true,
      showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
      reputationToPostImages: null,
      bindNavPrevention: true,
      postfix: "",
      imageUploader: {
      brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
      contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
      allowUrls: true
      },
      noCode: true, onDemand: true,
      discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
      ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
      });


      }
      });














      draft saved

      draft discarded


















      StackExchange.ready(
      function () {
      StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fspace.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f33140%2fwhy-is-spacex-not-creating-its-own-launch-vehicle-for-small-satellites%23new-answer', 'question_page');
      }
      );

      Post as a guest















      Required, but never shown

























      3 Answers
      3






      active

      oldest

      votes








      3 Answers
      3






      active

      oldest

      votes









      active

      oldest

      votes






      active

      oldest

      votes









      14














      They already have one. The Falcon 9. Earlier this month a single Falcon 9 put 64 smallsats on orbit. It was arranged by a rideshare company, Spaceflight, at prices that small launch vehicles would have a hard time competing with, starting at $300,000.






      share|improve this answer






























        14














        They already have one. The Falcon 9. Earlier this month a single Falcon 9 put 64 smallsats on orbit. It was arranged by a rideshare company, Spaceflight, at prices that small launch vehicles would have a hard time competing with, starting at $300,000.






        share|improve this answer




























          14












          14








          14







          They already have one. The Falcon 9. Earlier this month a single Falcon 9 put 64 smallsats on orbit. It was arranged by a rideshare company, Spaceflight, at prices that small launch vehicles would have a hard time competing with, starting at $300,000.






          share|improve this answer















          They already have one. The Falcon 9. Earlier this month a single Falcon 9 put 64 smallsats on orbit. It was arranged by a rideshare company, Spaceflight, at prices that small launch vehicles would have a hard time competing with, starting at $300,000.







          share|improve this answer














          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer








          edited Dec 28 '18 at 17:16

























          answered Dec 28 '18 at 13:52









          Mark AdlerMark Adler

          48.2k3123203




          48.2k3123203























              2














              Everything SpaceX does is in service of Elon Musk's ultimate goal of retiring to Mars. The Falcon 9 was a stepping stone, developing a separate small launcher would take a lot of development effort that doesn't help the ultimate goal.



              Their plan involves moving all payloads to the BFR, a reusable spaceship that could be more economical than throwing away a small rocket on every launch.






              share|improve this answer






























                2














                Everything SpaceX does is in service of Elon Musk's ultimate goal of retiring to Mars. The Falcon 9 was a stepping stone, developing a separate small launcher would take a lot of development effort that doesn't help the ultimate goal.



                Their plan involves moving all payloads to the BFR, a reusable spaceship that could be more economical than throwing away a small rocket on every launch.






                share|improve this answer




























                  2












                  2








                  2







                  Everything SpaceX does is in service of Elon Musk's ultimate goal of retiring to Mars. The Falcon 9 was a stepping stone, developing a separate small launcher would take a lot of development effort that doesn't help the ultimate goal.



                  Their plan involves moving all payloads to the BFR, a reusable spaceship that could be more economical than throwing away a small rocket on every launch.






                  share|improve this answer















                  Everything SpaceX does is in service of Elon Musk's ultimate goal of retiring to Mars. The Falcon 9 was a stepping stone, developing a separate small launcher would take a lot of development effort that doesn't help the ultimate goal.



                  Their plan involves moving all payloads to the BFR, a reusable spaceship that could be more economical than throwing away a small rocket on every launch.







                  share|improve this answer














                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer








                  edited Dec 28 '18 at 11:42

























                  answered Dec 28 '18 at 11:17









                  HobbesHobbes

                  87.4k2248397




                  87.4k2248397























                      2














                      They already dipped their toes in that, it was called Falcon 1. Basically they didn't find enough demand to justify keeping it around. Granted today there is more of a demand for such then there was in the past, but...



                      The ultimate solution will be Starship (BFR). The estimated cost of a single launch is about $6 million. An Electron rocket costs $5 million. The amount of payload that Starship can take to LEO is VASTLY larger then an Electron rocket.



                      As for the $5.5 billion market size, that would include building and launching them. Let's say there is 100 launches per year, that would only come to a $1 billion launch cost of total launches per year. They could do it, but there is a limit to how much engineering they can do, and it is more worth their while to go after the bigger fishes of Starlink and Starship.






                      share|improve this answer



















                      • 1





                        “The estimated cost of a single [BFR] launch is about $6 million.” I’d be very skeptical of that. Let’s see how well the Falcon 9 Block 5 does first.

                        – Michael
                        Dec 28 '18 at 20:20






                      • 1





                        @Michael though it's worth noting the BFR will likely be able to achieve lower costs than the F9B5 every will, due higher reusability % and focus.

                        – NPSF3000
                        Dec 28 '18 at 23:08
















                      2














                      They already dipped their toes in that, it was called Falcon 1. Basically they didn't find enough demand to justify keeping it around. Granted today there is more of a demand for such then there was in the past, but...



                      The ultimate solution will be Starship (BFR). The estimated cost of a single launch is about $6 million. An Electron rocket costs $5 million. The amount of payload that Starship can take to LEO is VASTLY larger then an Electron rocket.



                      As for the $5.5 billion market size, that would include building and launching them. Let's say there is 100 launches per year, that would only come to a $1 billion launch cost of total launches per year. They could do it, but there is a limit to how much engineering they can do, and it is more worth their while to go after the bigger fishes of Starlink and Starship.






                      share|improve this answer



















                      • 1





                        “The estimated cost of a single [BFR] launch is about $6 million.” I’d be very skeptical of that. Let’s see how well the Falcon 9 Block 5 does first.

                        – Michael
                        Dec 28 '18 at 20:20






                      • 1





                        @Michael though it's worth noting the BFR will likely be able to achieve lower costs than the F9B5 every will, due higher reusability % and focus.

                        – NPSF3000
                        Dec 28 '18 at 23:08














                      2












                      2








                      2







                      They already dipped their toes in that, it was called Falcon 1. Basically they didn't find enough demand to justify keeping it around. Granted today there is more of a demand for such then there was in the past, but...



                      The ultimate solution will be Starship (BFR). The estimated cost of a single launch is about $6 million. An Electron rocket costs $5 million. The amount of payload that Starship can take to LEO is VASTLY larger then an Electron rocket.



                      As for the $5.5 billion market size, that would include building and launching them. Let's say there is 100 launches per year, that would only come to a $1 billion launch cost of total launches per year. They could do it, but there is a limit to how much engineering they can do, and it is more worth their while to go after the bigger fishes of Starlink and Starship.






                      share|improve this answer













                      They already dipped their toes in that, it was called Falcon 1. Basically they didn't find enough demand to justify keeping it around. Granted today there is more of a demand for such then there was in the past, but...



                      The ultimate solution will be Starship (BFR). The estimated cost of a single launch is about $6 million. An Electron rocket costs $5 million. The amount of payload that Starship can take to LEO is VASTLY larger then an Electron rocket.



                      As for the $5.5 billion market size, that would include building and launching them. Let's say there is 100 launches per year, that would only come to a $1 billion launch cost of total launches per year. They could do it, but there is a limit to how much engineering they can do, and it is more worth their while to go after the bigger fishes of Starlink and Starship.







                      share|improve this answer












                      share|improve this answer



                      share|improve this answer










                      answered Dec 28 '18 at 14:46









                      PearsonArtPhotoPearsonArtPhoto

                      80.6k16230443




                      80.6k16230443








                      • 1





                        “The estimated cost of a single [BFR] launch is about $6 million.” I’d be very skeptical of that. Let’s see how well the Falcon 9 Block 5 does first.

                        – Michael
                        Dec 28 '18 at 20:20






                      • 1





                        @Michael though it's worth noting the BFR will likely be able to achieve lower costs than the F9B5 every will, due higher reusability % and focus.

                        – NPSF3000
                        Dec 28 '18 at 23:08














                      • 1





                        “The estimated cost of a single [BFR] launch is about $6 million.” I’d be very skeptical of that. Let’s see how well the Falcon 9 Block 5 does first.

                        – Michael
                        Dec 28 '18 at 20:20






                      • 1





                        @Michael though it's worth noting the BFR will likely be able to achieve lower costs than the F9B5 every will, due higher reusability % and focus.

                        – NPSF3000
                        Dec 28 '18 at 23:08








                      1




                      1





                      “The estimated cost of a single [BFR] launch is about $6 million.” I’d be very skeptical of that. Let’s see how well the Falcon 9 Block 5 does first.

                      – Michael
                      Dec 28 '18 at 20:20





                      “The estimated cost of a single [BFR] launch is about $6 million.” I’d be very skeptical of that. Let’s see how well the Falcon 9 Block 5 does first.

                      – Michael
                      Dec 28 '18 at 20:20




                      1




                      1





                      @Michael though it's worth noting the BFR will likely be able to achieve lower costs than the F9B5 every will, due higher reusability % and focus.

                      – NPSF3000
                      Dec 28 '18 at 23:08





                      @Michael though it's worth noting the BFR will likely be able to achieve lower costs than the F9B5 every will, due higher reusability % and focus.

                      – NPSF3000
                      Dec 28 '18 at 23:08


















                      draft saved

                      draft discarded




















































                      Thanks for contributing an answer to Space Exploration Stack Exchange!


                      • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                      But avoid



                      • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                      • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


                      Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


                      To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                      draft saved


                      draft discarded














                      StackExchange.ready(
                      function () {
                      StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fspace.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f33140%2fwhy-is-spacex-not-creating-its-own-launch-vehicle-for-small-satellites%23new-answer', 'question_page');
                      }
                      );

                      Post as a guest















                      Required, but never shown





















































                      Required, but never shown














                      Required, but never shown












                      Required, but never shown







                      Required, but never shown

































                      Required, but never shown














                      Required, but never shown












                      Required, but never shown







                      Required, but never shown







                      Popular posts from this blog

                      Probability when a professor distributes a quiz and homework assignment to a class of n students.

                      Aardman Animations

                      Are they similar matrix