by China plans to slash rocket launch costs to meet the challenge posed by SpaceX’s reusable rockets. Long March rockets currently cost about $3,000 per kilogram to launch payloads into Earth orbit. That compares to more than $60,000 per kilogram of payload launched by NASA’s space shuttle. But SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has already brought launch costs down to levels similar to Long March’s by reusing the first stage. SpaceX’s new rocket, the Starship Super Heavy, is expected to further reduce launch costs. Elon Musk’s claim that Starship will bring launch costs down to $10 per kilogram is believed by many to be an exaggeration, but think it can bring launch costs down to hundreds of dollars per kilogram. China is developing a new type of reusable launch vehicle. The authorities hope that it can be reused more than 100 times, with a failure rate of less than 3 per 1,000 flights, reducing the cost of payload launch to $150 per kilogram, and maintaining price competition with SpaceX force.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3216170/china-declares-price-war-spacex-reusable-rockets-economy-driving-new-aerospace-programme
