/sci/ - Science & Math

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/08/investing-in-space-rockets-chase-to-compete-with-spacexs-falcon-9.html

> No rocket has been better-described as a “workhorse” than SpaceX’s Falcon 9. Historically a term reserved for the likes of ULA’s Delta II (now retired) or Russia’s Soyuz (now unavailable) or China’s Long March (also unavailable), the blistering pace of Falcon 9 missions has seen the company blow past 200 launches to date, and become the staple of the Western market.

Launch vehicle classes by mass
Super heavy 30,000+
Heavy 11,341–30,000
Intermediate 5,4447–11,340
Medium 2,269–5,443
Small 501–2,268
Micro ≤ 500

> The launch market “sweet spot” for leading new entrant rockets – ULA’s Vulcan, Rocket Lab’s Neutron, Relativity’s Terran R, Firefly’s MLV – is in that heavy class. Aside from Blue Origin’s New Glenn, the early theme is rockets that are close to the capability of Falcon 9 and less expensive. We’ve recently learned that Rocket Lab is targeting a price tag of about $50 million per launch for Neutron, while Relativity has been selling Terran R for about $45 million. Falcon 9 is advertised for $67 million per launch.

> While Smith sees there being plenty of room to play in the heavy market for new rockets, the danger is “how much of the pie is everybody going to get” in that class. But he’s confident that the “workhorse — not sexy — doing the hauling of the mail” type rockets will continue to be in demand from customers.

>And even with Starship looming large, Smith doesn’t expect the heavy-class to be made obsolete.

>“There will always be a need for a certain family of vehicles to pick from. I don’t think Starship will be the panacea or silver bullet for all launch needs, and I think that Falcon 9 will be very hard to stop for SpaceX because the customer base will really want it,” Smith said.