On 29/09/2010 8:58 AM, Brian Thorn wrote:
On Sun, 26 Sep 2010 11:38:20 +1000, Alan Erskine
wrote:


I've said from the beginning of my time on these groups that the U.S.
doesn't need to use STS to launch station modules - Delta IV heavy is
even more powerful than the Proton used by Russia/USSR, so would be able
to deliver larger modules. And D-IV-H is much less expensive than STS.

Less expensive, but not much. Delta IV-Heavy is in the $500 million
per flight arena, while Shuttle is around $800 million. But remember,
modules launched on Delta would need their own propulsion, control and
guidance systems, greatly cutting into payload and increasing cost.

Brian

Shuttle is around $1.3 BILLION per launch. Delta IV Heavy is around
250-300 at the moment, but with more launches, becomes it would be less
expensive still.