Starship & Reusable Rockets

The plummeting cost of orbit.

SpaceX's successful development of the massive, fully reusable Starship vehicle completely upended the economics of space travel, making the colonization of the solar system economically viable.

Key Numbers

Cost to LEO (Space Shuttle)

$54,000 / kg

Cost to LEO (Starship Target)

< $100 / kg

Verified Facts

• During the Space Shuttle era, it cost roughly $54,000 per kilogram to launch mass into Low Earth Orbit. By 2025, reusable Falcon 9 rockets had dropped that to roughly $2,600/kg.
• Starship, being fully and rapidly reusable, is projected to drop the cost of orbit to less than $100/kg—an exponential cost collapse rivaling Moore's Law.
• In late 2024, SpaceX successfully caught a returning 232-foot-tall Super Heavy booster stage mid-air using massive mechanical arms (the "Chopsticks") on the launch tower.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources & Further Reading

• Wikipedia: SpaceX Starship

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