How much cost to develop man-rated launcher or at last satellite launcher?

[Pawelk198604]

I wonder does small countries like my Country (Poland) could build rocket and make profit on it.

Something like "Ariane" for example?

[Kryten]

The biggest cost isn't the launcher, it's building an orbital launchsite from scratch. How could this be done in poland?

[rtxoff]

Are you saying a company like SpaceX can't be established in a country like Poland?

I just can lol about that.

[Frozen_Heart]

The cost highly depends on how efficient the company making them is. Look at the different between Spacex, ULA, and Arianespace.

[Dkmdlb]

Would be difficult to create a usable launch site in Poland: it's surrounded by populous countries. Nowhere to let them stages fall.

[Warduk]

Would be difficult to create a usable launch site in Poland: it's surrounded by populous countries. Nowhere to let them stages fall.

And too far from equator

[andrewas]

But they are part of the EU, so they could presumably use the ESA launch site in Kourou rather than try to launch from Poland.

[Pawelk198604]

But they are part of the EU, so they could presumably use the ESA launch site in Kourou rather than try to launch from Poland.

I think that where will fall space belong to everyone, and stages could be remotely destroyed or burn-up during re-entry

As for to far from equator does Baikonur or Plesieck is near Equator, Gentleman Please

[Moar Boosters]

Poland could definitely develop an orbital launch system for satellites but it's never likely to be profitable because to get customers, they'd be competing with already proven space-agencies. They'd need something the other space agencies don't have. If they built themselves a working skylon(ska) before the UK, then they'd be in business.

Otherwise they'd be building a rocket using the old technology which USA or Russia don't mind sharing with them.

Edited January 21, 2015 by Moar Boosters

[GoSlash27]

The cost highly depends on how efficient the company making them is. Look at the different between Spacex, ULA, and Arianespace.

True. The big cost is in bureaucracy, red tape, and regulation. Any organization will eventually conspire to make it's objective impossible once it gets big enough.

Best,

-Slashy

[Nibb31]

I wonder does small countries like my Country (Poland) could build rocket and make profit on it.

Something like "Ariane" for example?

Poland already participates in ESA, so Poland already has its Ariane rocket.

The development cost of Ariane 6 is planned to be 4 billion euros spread over several years (in all likeliness it will be double that when it finally flies), but it is based on existing technology and infrastructure that has gone through decades of spending.

ESA's budget is about 4 billion euros per year, with Poland contribution 38 million (0,9%). So if the Polish government wanted to fund its own space program, they would probably have to multiply their current space budget by 100.

The problem is that Poland doesn't have much of an aerospace industry, so most of that money would need to be used to develop the technical knowledge, train the engineers, and build the infrastructure to build space hardware. It would take decades to catch up.

[78stonewobble]

I think most industrialised countries could do it, if they threw enough money at it, but it would become a silly exercise at some point. Kinda like most industrialised countries could develop nuclear power or heck... a nuclear bomb if they wanted to.

[Kryten]

Of course, if all you wanted was the ability to put a satellite in space, you don't something like Ariane 6, or even a launch site. The cheapest launch vehicle I've been able to find is the US navy NOTSNIK program; orbital launches with a six-stage solid rocket put together from weapons components, launched from a supersonic aircraft. Cost for the entire program, including four orbital launch attempts, was $300,000 1958; about 2 and a half million today. Of course, there's the minor issue that NOTSNIK didn't actually work, but that was due to component issues, and rocket motors and guidance systems are a lot more reliable today than in 1958. Poland has F-16s with better performance than the F-6 used by NOTSNIK, and I'm pretty sure they have plenty of weapons components lying around; air launch means they can do it over the north sea, away from populated areas.