[Fitzcarraldo]

Reusability is mythical. New parts are made to replace stuff that is only good for a handful of launches (or one launch). Reprocessing costs for a launch runs to $500 million (a half billion $) and the 30 year old technology is obsolescent. The engines being developed for the new booster will cost less than the liquid fueled SSMEs, will be more powerful, and will not be retrieved from the drink.

Additional confirmation we are stuck in the Jules Verne/von Braun space exploration paradigms. There's no real break in the cost per pound of human space travel until space-directed nanotechnology becomes viable.

[SunkenCiv]

Additional confirmation we are stuck in the Jules Verne/von Braun space exploration paradigms. There's no real break in the cost per pound of human space travel until space-directed nanotechnology becomes viable.

Additional confirmation that the society has spent too much time watching the Millennium Falcon take off. :') What is space-directed nanotechnology?