The first controlled ocean #landing of a #Falcon9 booster was completed in April 2014. This was followed a little over a year later by the first successful recovery of a Falcon 9 booster on a ground pad in December 2015.

So, #reusable launch technologies were most certainly available during the design and early development phases of #Ariane6 https://europeanspaceflight.com/europe-will-introduce-a-reusable-launch-vehicle-in-the-2030s-says-arianespace-ceo

#Ariane6 (GTO 4,500 kg, €100 million) : successful launch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariane_6#List_of_launches
#H3 (GTO 4,000 kg, $50 million ) : successful launches https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H3_(rocket)#Past_launches

Private investors in the #US , #EU , and #Oceania have pumped tens of billions into launch vehicle companies—as examples, more than $10B for #BlueOrigin, $1.2B into #RocketLab, $2.4B for #RelativitySpace, $700 million into #Firefly, $500M into #StokeSpace, and $483M into #IsarAerospace. (As an aside, the cost of developing the expendable #Falcon9 was $400M ) https://payloadspace.com/why-is-spacex-the-master-of-launch

The #mainstream media doesn’t cover #SpaceExploration and #SpaceScience with the same questioning rigor that they reserve for #politics. People writing about space exploration are mostly #cheerleaders for the cause, rather than independent observers keeping a watchful eye on how our national monies are spent https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucedorminey/2022/06/23/new-book-paints-bleak-picture-of-nasas-human-spaceflight-program

#AtlasV 233 cubic meters, 9.8-18.8 tonnes
#DeltaIV 233 cubic meters, 28.3 tonnes
#Vulcan 310 cubic meters, 10.8-27.2 tonnes
#Falcon9 145 cubic meters, 18-25 tonnes, #FalconHeavy 30-64 tonnes

Atlas V ~$150 million
Delta IV Heavy ~$300 million
Vulcan ~ $120 million
Falcon 9 ~ $67 million, Falcon Heavy ~$100 million

https://everydayastronaut.com/how-does-ulas-vulcan-compare-to-the-competition

@tetora_san the "competitive advantage" is "reducing the energy needs and carbon footprint" (as mentioned above). "Costly" depends on the #LaunchCost and #operating expenses (compared to what ?)

We've arranged a #society based on #science and #technology, in which nobody understands anything about science and technology. And this combustible mixture of #ignorance and #power , sooner or later, is going to blow up in our faces. Who is running the science and technology in a #democracy if the people don't know anything about it ? https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan#Quotes

Launch prices for #NASA missions soared after the late 2000s, following the creation of #ULA through a merger of the #Atlas and #Delta rocket programs developed by #LockheedMartin and #Boeing. The merger eliminated #competition for most of NASA's launch contracts until #SpaceX's #Falcon9 became available https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/04/reusable-rockets-are-here-so-why-is-nasa-paying-more-to-launch-stuff-to-space

To get enough fuel into #orbit for a #Mars mission would require at least 10 launches of the #SLS rocket, or about $20 billion . Just for the fuel. To use traditional propulsion, one needs to push the boundaries of #reuse and heavy lift rockets to extreme limits—which is precisely what #SpaceX is trying to do with its fully reusable launch system https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/02/report-nasas-only-realistic-path-for-humans-on-mars-is-nuclear-propulsion

@Egbert about which #LaunchCost compared to which gain are you talking ?

So far this year, #SpaceX has launched a total of 119 Falcon 9 rockets, for an average of a launch every 2.3 days. SpaceX has achieved a flight rate about 30 times higher than the shuttle at one-hundredth the cost. https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/12/spacex-has-set-all-kinds-of-records-with-its-falcon-9-rocket-this-year

#India’s budgetary allocation for its space programme is $1.55bn - #NASA’s budget for the year is $25bn . India spent $74m on the #Mars orbiter #Mangalyaan and $75m on #Chandrayaan3. NASA’s #Maven orbiter had cost $582m and Russia’s #Luna25 $133m. #ISRO employs far fewer people and pays lower salaries, which makes Indian projects competitive https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn9xlgnnpzvo

@babble_endanger The #profitability is inversely proportional to the #LaunchCost https://spacey.space/@spaceflight/112396642670979680. But you could submit a request to #UNOOSA https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/intromoon-agreement.html

He really gets to the point https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9tDERFjOMw

#Mitsubishi has agreed to provide multiple #H3 rocket launches for French #satellite company #Eutelsat Group from 2027 https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2024/09/18/mitsubishi-eutelsat-h3

#NASA’s inspector general pegged #CrewDragon’s cost per seat at $55M and #Starliner’s cost per seat at $90M https://payloadspace.com/starliner-by-the-numbers-payload-research

#India's #SpaceAgency expects a 20%-30% increase in its budget (currently $1.55 billion ) in the coming years. Their rocket launch prices are on a par with #SpaceX's. #NASA's approved budget stands at $25 billion . The Indian government estimates its share of the market is currently just $8 billion, but it is aiming to increase that to $44 billion over the next decade https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-space-agency-chief-sees-higher-funding-2024-08-27

#ESA and its member states forked over $4.4B to develop #Ariane6. Customer launches are unlikely to pay back development costs any time soon.

#SpaceX has invested over $5B in #Starship R&D to date. Starship has proven its expendable capability, and the company is focusing on achieving full #reusability .

#NASA spent a dizzying $24B developing #SLS
https://payloadspace.com/rocket-development-costs-by-vehicle-payload-research