Capability and Cost-Effectiveness of Launch Vehicles

Abstract Data for space launches and launch vehicles from 2000 to 2013 are analyzed to rate the relative capability and cost-effectiveness of launch vehicles for missions. The masses of mission payloads are used to determine the cost of payload mass delivered to low Earth and geosynchronous transfer orbits. These costs are higher due to wastage of launch vehicle capacity totaling 20.4% for the studied missions. A minimum cost scenario is then studied, where the lowest cost launch vehicle capable of performing a mission is used. In this scenario, the total price over the studied period for launches with complete data would be reduced from $44.2B to $33.4B, a savings of 24.5%. Usage is then compared with this scenario, and it is found that the cheapest launch vehicle capable of performing a mission is only used for 20.4% of studied missions.