SpaceX heavy-lift launch vehicle: 5 years, $2.5B fixed price

[bananas]

http://alspacesettlement.blogspot.com/2011/02/spacex-heavy-lift-fixed-price.html

Sunday, February 13, 2011
SpaceX, Heavy Lift, Fixed Price!

In a letter the Space News editor on February 7 SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell said: "we .. develop a heavy-lift launch vehicle with a 150 metric ton to orbit capability ... We can do so for no more than $2.5 billion, within five years, on a firm, fixed price basis with payment made only on achieving hardware milestones."

Contrast this with Congress' plan to spend $10 billion on a heavy lift vehicle and a crew capsule. This is intended to be a typical aerospace cost-plus contract, the kind that always needs more money. Note: SpaceX just flew their reusable capsule, which requires additional work to be human-rated.

Bottom line: Congress should change the heavy lift development program to a fixed price program similar to the very successful COTS program which helped develop the SpaceX Falcon 9 (on which the heavy lift vehicle would be based) and an Orbital Science vehicle.

Posted by Al Globus at 10:58 AM

[Kolesar]

1. That's what we want to hear! eom

[WheelWalker]

2. That sounds cheap to me.

I can't believe I just wrote that.