General Discussion

The cost of getting material to orbit was tremendous compared to modern launch systems.

The shuttle cost about $54,500/kg to LEO (Low-Earth-Orbit). A Falcon 9 costs about $2,720/kg to LEO. Basically 5% of the cost.

While the shuttle was originally intended to have many civil applications, the cost of operations made that difficult to achieve.

The timetable for launches never came close to what the original goals were. The system had critical design flaws and it just wasn't going to get better.

I worked for NASA on the shuttle program in the late 80s to the mid 90s. Was there for Endeavour's first flight. It was amazing to see but, as much as it saddens me to say it, it was far from a successful system.


https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20200001093

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/cost-space-launches-low-earth-orbit