How much will a personal spacecraft cost?

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2004-03-03 07:31pm

Relative to today's levels of currency? Would it cost about the equivalent of a personal water yacht today? Or more expensive?

Hamel · Post by **Hamel** » 2004-03-03 07:32pm

One BILLION dollars

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-03-03 07:33pm

It'd be like buying a jumbo jet, I think.

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2004-03-03 07:33pm

Unknown. You are going to have to give some details about the craft here.

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2004-03-03 07:36pm

The biggest cost in the craft will be the electronics, followed by the heatshield (which will have to be built to exacting tolerances). I would guess at least a million dollars for a Mercury-sized capsule.

The REAL financial kick in the nuts will be the cost of the fuel.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2004-03-03 07:38pm

Gil Hamilton wrote:Unknown. You are going to have to give some details about the craft here.

You mean like how easily available or refined construction techniques and materials are for the craft?

Well, say that we're in a very well advanced and expanded spacefaring society covering at least a hundred populated star systems and habitats. I'd say building spaceships then would be about as easy as building a plane or a boat today.

Is there some other detail you wanted?

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-03-03 07:41pm

He means what kind of spaceship.

As for the future, I don't see civilians owning personal spacecraft for a very long time, even if the majority of civilisation was space-based.

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2004-03-03 07:44pm

Shinova wrote:You mean like how easily available or refined construction techniques and materials are for the craft?

Well, say that we're in a very well advanced and expanded spacefaring society covering at least a hundred populated star systems and habitats. I'd say building spaceships then would be about as easy as building a plane or a boat today.

Is there some other detail you wanted?

The problem is that there is no way of knowing how expensive the ship will be. It depends on the infrastructure of the planet, the resources and skilled labor needed, supply compared to demand, mark-ups, et cetera. Since we have no idea how to make said spaceship, how can we make an estimate on how much it will cost?

Phantasee · Post by **Phantasee** » 2004-03-03 08:18pm

just let everyone know if has any especially expensive amenities...like a hot tub

oh and how far in the future we are talking....method of propulsion, etc. and how big, fast...especially how fast

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2004-03-03 08:43pm

Shinova wrote: You mean like how easily available or refined construction techniques and materials are for the craft?

Well, say that we're in a very well advanced and expanded spacefaring society covering at least a hundred populated star systems and habitats. I'd say building spaceships then would be about as easy as building a plane or a boat today.

Is there some other detail you wanted?

You're being so vague any answer will be completely arbitrary.

MarkIX · Post by **MarkIX** » 2004-03-03 08:59pm

RedImperator wrote:The biggest cost in the craft will be the electronics, followed by the heatshield (which will have to be built to exacting tolerances). I would guess at least a million dollars for a Mercury-sized capsule.

The REAL financial kick in the nuts will be the cost of the fuel.

The Biggest single cost for space craft is the development costs, electronics are one of the lower areas of cost because the problems have been the same for the last 50 years or so and are well understood. fuel is depending on the assesment between $12 and $100 of the $3000 dollars per pound to leo cost of current space craft.

YT300000 · Post by **YT300000** » 2004-03-03 09:23pm

RedImperator wrote:The biggest cost in the craft will be the electronics, followed by the heatshield (which will have to be built to exacting tolerances). I would guess at least a million dollars for a Mercury-sized capsule.

The REAL financial kick in the nuts will be the cost of the fuel.

And insurance.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-03-03 10:00pm

Sea Skimmer wrote:You're being so vague any answer will be completely arbitrary.

That's our little Space Cadet.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2004-03-03 11:12pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:
Sea Skimmer wrote:You're being so vague any answer will be completely arbitrary.
That's our little Space Cadet.

Oh right, like you can answer Hamilton's question yourself.

But anyway, let's see: said spaceship is between 50 to 100 meters, can lift off from the ground and go into space in under a minute, and land as well. Is capable of FTL that can take it from one end of the galaxy to the other in a few months. Spaceship has shielding, and can travel without engine fuel for about a couple of months too.

What else: given that it's a personal yacht, it has the appropriate living quarters, kitchen, lounge, maybe even a gym or a hot tub.

Materials are simple advanced steel alloy, power and information is distributed via super-conducting wires (something like Star Wars').

Power generation is multiple fusion reactors with a sixty percent efficiency rate, can power the ship for years without refueling.

Materials being abundant and construction techniques refined, a ship can take about half a year (three weeks if rushed). Insurance is optional...for the sake of this topic, say none.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-03-03 11:13pm

It'd cost around $Dream.On USD.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2004-03-03 11:23pm

Shinova wrote: Oh right, like you can answer Hamilton's question yourself.

But anyway, let's see: said spaceship is between 50 to 100 meters, can lift off from the ground and go into space in under a minute, and land as well. Is capable of FTL that can take it from one end of the galaxy to the other in a few months.

So you want to know how much something that breaks physics will cost? I'm going to say its price will be on the lines of penny candy.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2004-03-03 11:26pm

Well my question was let's say we're all now an advanced spacefaring race. We can travel back and forth between the stars, etc, etc.

So assume that a medium-sized house at that time costs roughly the same as today, equivalently. Likewise, the equivalent of a bottle of coke costs the same then as it does now. Relatively.

So relatively, how much should a personal spacecraft cost?

That's what I'm asking. Not how much it would cost now, but how much it would cost then if currencies were made equivalent to ours.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2004-03-03 11:28pm

Again, we have no freaking clue.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2004-03-04 12:17am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Again, we have no freaking clue.

Then you have no freaking clue! That's okay!

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2004-03-04 12:21am

I'd hate to think how expensive insurance would be. Assuming you could even get a policy. My auto insurance policy says they don't owe me money if my car is destroyed by radiological device. Do you think they would make a similar exemption for alien attack?

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2004-03-04 12:21am

Shinova wrote:Well my question was let's say we're all now an advanced spacefaring race. We can travel back and forth between the stars, etc, etc.

So assume that a medium-sized house at that time costs roughly the same as today, equivalently. Likewise, the equivalent of a bottle of coke costs the same then as it does now. Relatively.

So relatively, how much should a personal spacecraft cost?

That's what I'm asking. Not how much it would cost now, but how much it would cost then if currencies were made equivalent to ours.

Define relative value.

Ie...does a bottle of Coke in the future cost $12 because of inflation...or because that's the value of Coke and what people are willing to pay.

Because you are still being too fucking vague on what you are asking.

You might as well be asking what's the flavor of air.

jenat-lai · Post by **jenat-lai** » 2004-03-04 02:37am

as soon as you said Faster than Light travel, and "crossing the galaxy" the price went up to multiple times the entire economy of earth, and into something that may be actually impossible.

If you want to go to the moon. I reccon Bill Gates could afford a reconditioned Saturn V at about $2billion. Just make sure he doesn't put Microsoft Software in it to get to the moon

Have a nice day.

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2004-03-04 02:42am

A Honda XG3/1 hyperjump-enabled, dual fusion chamber sports ship runs about 529,500 New Yen in the year PS2513.

Raxmei · Post by **Raxmei** » 2004-03-04 02:58am

Taking into account present trends of disposable goods and planned obsolescence, a single-person ship will cost as much as a 12-oz cherry coke, much of that coming from the costs of designing a unique ship for each individual person for each individual use. The most common job of the future will be making new ship models to keep up with the constant demand for non-repeating disposable ship designs. Did I mention that these are single-use-only ships, containing a non-refillable fuel tank so you have to throw it out once you run low on gas? Sure, you can try using one of those home refueling kits, but that would be really unstylish of you.

GrandMasterTerwynn · Post by **GrandMasterTerwynn** » 2004-03-04 03:25am

Shinova wrote:Well my question was let's say we're all now an advanced spacefaring race. We can travel back and forth between the stars, etc, etc.

So assume that a medium-sized house at that time costs roughly the same as today, equivalently. Likewise, the equivalent of a bottle of coke costs the same then as it does now. Relatively.

So relatively, how much should a personal spacecraft cost?

That's what I'm asking. Not how much it would cost now, but how much it would cost then if currencies were made equivalent to ours.

Here's a helpful program.

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <iostream.h>

int main()
{
int arbitrarily_huge_number;
int cost_of_spaceship;

cout<<"Enter some huge number: ";
cin>>arbitrarily_huge_number;

cost_of_spaceship = rand() % arbitrarily_huge_number + 1;

return 0;
}

That is to say, your question is entirely too vague. You can specify all the little details of the ship, but you're sticking it in some arbitrarily advanced civilization. So the cost will range from "a game of poker" to "five billion dollars."