On 2 Jul 2003 23:32:49 -0700, in a place far, far away, Louis Scheffer
made the phosphor on my monitor glow in such a way
as to indicate that:

Hop David writes:

Much has been written in this newsgroup how economies of scale could
reduce launch costs.
Recently Ariane ordered 30 Ariane 5 Launchers
http://www.arianespace.com/site/news...ase_index.html
Is 30 enough to enjoy substantial savings due to economy of scale?

Yes, it is. The standard engineering rule of thumb is that unit prices
drop by 30% when the volume doubles. So if you order 32 rather than 8,
the unit price will be only half as much. A factor of 2 is substantial,
though many in this newsgroup think that much larger factors are possible.

Given the relative inelasticity of the price-demand curve at that
point, I don't consider a factor of two substantial, in the sense of
enabling new markets. However, orders of magnitude are possible,
which is what I mean by substantial.

--
simberg.interglobal.org * 310 372-7963 (CA) 307 739-1296 (Jackson Hole)
interglobal space lines * 307 733-1715 (Fax) http://www.interglobal.org

"Extraordinary launch vehicles require extraordinary markets..."
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