In article ,
says...

William Mook wrote:


The orbiter, with flyback LRB boosters, and a flyback External Tank would have reduced the cost of each launch from $500 million to $20 million or so - and investment in reducing the standing army of government employees PER LAUNCH by automating the launch procedures - would cut even that figure.


Poppycock!

snip MookSpew

No kidding. Refurbishing the orbiter (which included the SSMEs) and
configuring it for its next flight literally took months, which
translated into a hell of a lot of money. No way in hell you'd ever get
the cost of refurbishment of the orbiter low enough that a flight would
cost $20 million.

Jeff
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