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Spaceflight is traditionally a government-run activity – and it has never been cheap. But the stratospheric cost of putting people and payloads into space is finally starting to diminish, thanks in part to SpaceX's rise and other private space flight companies.
Here is an overview of the cost of a spacewalk, whether it's another satellite to be placed in orbit or an adventurous billionaire looking for a ride in the moon.
Sending a satellite
With the help of its 230-foot Falcon 9, SpaceX is asking for $ 62 million to send commercial satellites weighing up to 50,000 pounds into orbit. The closest US competitor is the United Launch Alliance Atlas V, which starts at $ 73 million for a payload of 41,000 pounds.
These are just starting prices; Government agencies generally pay more for a long list of additional services. The Air Force, for example, is contributing $ 96.5 million to SpaceX for the launch of a GPS satellite in 2019.
Fly to the International Space Station
Since NASA stopped its space shuttles in 2011, NASA is relying on the Russian space shuttle Soyuz to bring astronauts to the ISS. Russia has steadily increased the price of Soyuz seats, reaching $ 82 million each in 2015. The last agency bought Soyuz seats for $ 75 million each in 2017.
NASA hopes to end its dependence on Russia in 2019, when SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsules and Boeing's Starliner will begin "taxi" flights to the ISS. Space on these spacecraft is expected to cost about $ 58 million.
How much should I pay for a flight in space?
Depending on where you go, a ticket can cost you between $ 250,000 and tens of millions of dollars.
If you're just looking to cross the 100-kilometer Karman line, which marks the boundary between the upper atmosphere and space, Virgin Galactic says it will cost you $ 250,000. The company said that around 650 people already had tickets for suborbital flights, to be carried aboard a winged vehicle called SpaceShipTwo. A date for customer flights has not been announced yet.
Blue Origin, the rocket company of Jeff Bezos, plans something similar: send space tourists to make short suborbital flights with its New Shepard rocket system. The company has not yet set the ticket prices or indicated when the paid flights could start.
Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin passengers will join dozens of citizens who have funded their own space travel. From 2001 to 2009, Space Adventures, based in Vienna, Virginia, worked with the Russian Space Agency to send eight people to the ISS on flights of ten days or more.
The world's first private astronaut, Dennis Tito, a wealthy American engineer, reportedly paid $ 20 million to spend eight days in space. More recently, Guy Laliberté, the co-founder of Cirque du Soleil, paid $ 35 million for a trip to the ISS. in 2009. Space Adventures continues to advertise Soyuz flights and plans to begin booking trips to the ISS aboard the Boeing Starliner.
In September 2018, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced that Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa would pilot the company's Big Falcon Rocket, still to be built, on a voyage around the moon. Neither Musk nor Maezawa, who announced that he would bring seven artists, would discuss the cost of the mission.
What about other rockets?
Small satellites can qualify for a free space trip through the NASA Nanosatellites Program's educational launch program, which helps universities and research groups to fly standard satellites called CubeSats aboard rockets as than secondary payload.
If your satellite can not cope, you can reserve a rocket at NASA at the limit of space for only $ 1 million. For orbital flights of payloads weighing less than 500 pounds, Los Angeles-based Rocket Lab is proposing the launch of its Electron rocket from New Zealand for about $ 5 million.
From there, the price skyrockets. Northrop Grumman's Pegasus rocket, launched from the belly of a jumbo jet, can put 1,000 pounds into orbit for about $ 40 million. Stratolaunch, a new venture funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, plans to launch Pegasus rockets from its own huge aircraft before offering a wider range of rockets capable of supporting up to 13,000 pounds. The company has not yet disclosed its prices.
NASA is currently developing its space launch system, which will allow astronauts to travel to the Moon and Mars. The cost per launch of the rocket has not been revealed, but the agency spends at least $ 2 billion a year on the project. The inaugural flight is scheduled for 2020.
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