What Drives Cost: Sensitivities and Learning
Which assumptions move the cost of space solar power most, and how fast could costs fall with experience?
Chapter summary
three inputs dominate, launch price, specific mass and the cost of getting to final orbit, because they multiply each other into the launch bill.
Key takeaways
- 1
In Setcoin's reference case, halving any one of them cuts the cost of electricity by about 46%.
- 2
The cost of capital is next: moving from 8% to 4%, as government-backed finance might, cuts cost by about 28%.
- 3
Hardware cost matters little while launch is expensive but becomes decisive once launch is cheap.
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