NASA completes SD HLV assessment

[AirSimming]

The thing is that the more launches they did, the less they would cost per launch. A lot of so-called "per launch" costs are really fixed costs that occur no matter whether they launch 10 time per year or not at all. The original plan was for a shuttle launch every few weeks, not every few months. On that schedule, the per launch cost would be considerably less.

Yes and no. Yes, if there was the market for it. But the original plan was based on a market that does not exist. This is why without the pressure by the airforce (they had payload in charge designed to be carried by the Shuttle) the Shuttle even would have never lifted off the ground due to its exorbitant program costs. If they wanted to launch 50 times a year as initially expected, the budget for Apollo and Constellation would have been just peanuts in comparison to STS. That the Shuttle costs would be considerably less, heck, even self-financing, always was a pipe dream.

By the way, I think that it even was technologically and logistically impossible to launch the Shuttle 50 times a year. Just look how much changes they had to do on the system over the years to make it more reliable, especially after STS-51L and STS-107, and so how much gaps and delays the progam includes all in all.

 

[Urwumpe]

Not impossible - you just needed to get the program ahead from flying prototypes to have real production spacecraft.

A huge deal of the Shuttle program was always badly experimental. If you read how many improvements to the Shuttle had not been funded, you can see easily what the future would have had for the Shuttle, if it just got the proper care by the management. The biggest problem spots had been identified and addressed, but money was only for doctoring on the small problems.

 

[orb]

The third part of this:

NASASpaceFlight: Lunar/BEO – SD HLV, Commercial and International Architecture Outlined.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

The fourth part of this (how many parts can there be?!):

NASASpaceFlight: "SD HLV: Early SPS demonstration mission outlined – Risk assessment findings".