Why do we believe we can reduce recurring costs by a factor of 10?

• We have some of the most knowledgeable and experienced consultants and reviewers available and they are highly supportive
  - Most were initially very skeptical!
• We have dramatically simpler technology - factor of 10 fewer parts, lower tolerances, larger margins, almost no moving or machined parts.
• We understand why the costs are lower and why other rockets have not been built this way.
• Soviet experience over 30 years shows that manufacturing-oriented space launch is reasonable and successful in holding down cost.
• Multiple, formal reviews have found no “show stoppers” or major cost impediments.
• We are now building test hardware at much less than 1/10th traditional costs
  - Engines, tanks, and avionics.

Low recurring cost comes from designing the vehicle from the outset to be manufactured, not built and assembled by engineers.

Low parts count reduces recurring cost!

An entire Scorpius® vehicle will contain ~10,000 parts vs. 100,000+ parts for a typical liquid-fueled launch vehicle.

• Our thrust chambers contain ~38 parts vs. ~15,000* for typical liquid engines
  - Most of the Scorpius® engine parts are fasteners.
• Multiple use makes the number of different parts even lower
  - 7 pods, multiple engines per vehicle.
• Minimum touch labor for manufacture and assembly
  - Injectors typically nearly “hand-made” at a cost of $50,000
  - Our ROM cost for a cast aluminum injector is $1,400
  - We’re working very hard to get the cost down further!
• We begin with low-cost, non-labor-intensive processes and find ways to build launch vehicles from them
  - Most of the vehicle (tanks, engines, and shrouds) is composite materials
  - High strength-density, low-cost!

It takes less than 34 man-hours to go from raw material to a chamber ready to fire.

REDUCING COST ON AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE
REQUIRES A STRONG SYSTEMS APPROACH

• No matter how clever, we cannot build the Space Shuttle at low-cost.
• Building low-cost pieces cannot get the overall cost down dramatically - we must tackle the system as a whole.
  - Must design from the outset for both manufacturability and operability.
  - Must have low-cost processes and minimal touch labor.
  - Must tackle all of the elements of system cost simultaneously:
  ¤ Non-recurring development.
  ¤ Recurring manufacturing.
  ¤ Facilities and operations.
  - Must support systems engineering with a low-cost build and test program.
• This approach differs strongly from current performance-driven programs
  - Programmatic approach must be cost-driven, not requirements-driven.
  - Must recapture the spirit of the beginning space program, while building on the knowledge that has been gained over 30 years.

Norm Augustines’ Law XV - “The last ten percent of performance generates one-third of the cost and two-thirds of the problems”.

Email us at microcosm@smad.com HOME