A $316 million Falcon Heavy launch

1/14/2023 - Written By Caleb Henry

We’re old enough to remember when SpaceX upbraided ULA for charging hundreds of millions of dollars for military launches. Congress, NASA, and many others listened, and though it was an uphill, litigious battle, SpaceX prevailed, cleaving off a chunk of ULA’s government market. SpaceX’s Jan. 16 Falcon Heavy launch, at $316 million, is just $34 million off from ULA’s Delta 4 Heavy price tag, and a far cry from the $90 million to $150 million SpaceX has touted. And this isn’t a one-off. SpaceX’s NASA contract to launch the first pieces of agency’s Lunar Gateway space station on a Falcon Heavy was priced at $331.8 million. Why is SpaceX charging so much? Well, like ULA knew years prior, it’s good to have a monopoly. The Delta 4 Heavy is phasing out and ULA’s Vulcan is years behind schedule (as is rival Blue Origin’s New Glenn). For America’s heaviest satellites, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy is the only ride in town.

SOURCE: https://qz.com/spacex-raising-capital-at-137-billion-dollar-valuation-1849984490?