Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer. SpaceX founder Elon Musk has said the first stage accounts for about 75 percent of the total vehicle cost. At the same time, the out-year operational costs of the shuttle system are likely to increase as Both the American public and policymakers should recognize that spaceflight programs represent a "risky, expensive and long-term commitment," Pielke said. The concept for this massive project was first conceived in the early 1990s, motivated to a large degree by the end of the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. But it rises to $1.5 billion per flight when factoring in lifetime program costs, according to the new analysis, which covered the 131 shuttle missions flown between 1982 and 2010. According to the United States Department of Labor's Consumer Price Index Inflation Calculator, that $2 billion comes out to about $6.1 billion in 2011 cash. In the United States, NASA reports only the costs relating to the mission, mission integration, and launch facility processing as expenses for the ICC. The shuttle Endeavour will launch on the 134th shuttle flight on April 29, with the Atlantis orbiter pegged for a late June liftoff on the agency's final mission, STS-135. How much does it cost to launch a Space Shuttle? Shuttle costs For Fiscal Year 2010, the average cost to prepare and launch a shuttle mission was approximately $775 million. It was extremely expensive. The Space Shuttle Endeavour, the orbiter built to replace the Space Shuttle Challenger, cost approximately $1.7 billion. The remaining five modules will complete the ISS by 2010. How Much Does It Cost to Go to Space - Travel & Tourism Prices, How Much Did the Apollo Space Program Cost, How Much Does It Cost to Build a Nuclear-Powered Submarine, How Much Does International Adoption Cost - Process & Fees, How Much Did Boston's Big Dig Cost to Build. A final tally of the space shuttle program's lifetime costs puts the price tag at $1.5 billion per flight, a new analysis shows. [Video: Space Shuttle's Maiden Launch]. Thank you for signing up to Space. (Image credit: R.A. Pielke and R. Byerly). The life of the shuttle program has cost $113.7 billion. A final tally of the space shuttle program's lifetime costs puts the price tag at $1.5 billion per flight, a new analysis shows. The stalled plans for a … For a SpaceX Falcon 9, the rocket used to … Orbiting the earth 15 times every day, the International Space Station continues to provide research in such fields as biology, physics, astronomy, and meteorology. The Shuttle was originally conceived of and presented to the public in 1972 as a 'Space Truck' which would, among other things, be used to build a United States space station in low Earth orbitduring the 1980s and then be replaced by a new vehicle by the early 1990s. That suggests that by the end of this year, which includes three more shuttle missions, NASA will have spent $196.5 billion on its storied space shuttle program. On April 12, NASA will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the space shuttle program. So far, the average costs of launching cargo remain on par with the space shuttle at about $30,000 per lb. Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, NY 10036. Space shuttle Discovery ignites for liftoff on Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida beginning its final flight, the STS-133 mission, to the International Space Station, on Feb. 24, 2011. The space agency has not revealed any detailed cost estimates, and it's not yet known whether Congress will go along.