Pegasus/SciSat Launch Cost

According to Justin Ray's Spaceflightnow report at
"http://www.spaceflightnow.com/pegasus/scisat1/status.html",
about today's (8/12/2003) planned Pegasus XL launch:

"The launch costs are $21.6 million. The price tag for the
SciSat spacecraft, its instruments and two years of mission
operations is $40 million."

Most of the previous sources I've seen listed Pegasus
launches in the $12-14 million range. $21.6 million seems
a bit steep for putting a 150 kg payload into a 650 km deg
orbit (inclined 73.9 degrees). That's $144,000 per kg!
Taurus, designed to launch three times as much as Pegasus,
was supposed to cost $20-25 million. The spacecraft/mission
cost seems quite reasonable by comparison. (Maybe Canada
should develop its own space launcher, eh?)

- Ed Kyle