"Emilio" wrote in message
...
Study was done in the past concerning space flight cost. The conclusion
was
that space flight cost will never come down close to jet flight cost.
Typical airliner flight consists of flying to point A to B, refuel, pilot
gets out and kick the tire, and fly back to point A. Typical space flight
is totally different. Space craft leave for orbit, come back, technicians
must go over and certify all systems for flight worthiness before the next
flight. That includes checking every inch of external surface. The space
system consequently has terrible turnover, not to mention capacity of
delivery is a fraction of system weight.

Emilio.


The problem is much more fundamental IMHO

1) Putting an object into orbit requires a considerable
expenditure in energy since you have to accelerate it
to around 18,000 mph

2) You have to dissipate that energy to come home,
currently that means using atmospheric friction with its
resultant high temperatures.

Given that we havent been able to manufacture
aircraft that could operate economically at mach 2
expecting that a space vehicle could match the costs
of subsonic airliners is unrealistic.

Keith