SpaceX is purportedly at some point going to be able to put 100 tons in LEO for around 100M. I'll roughly assume with a second launch full of fuel, a purchaser with the right gear could put close to 100 tons on the lunar surface for 200M or so, once they get the kinks out and the price down.
So why not just pre-purchase 20 of these for your favorite lunar project, such as the ULT? If they bring prices down you get a cool lunar base. If they don't, you don't pay. That much payload delivered to the moon for $4B would be an incredible bargain, and it also serves to further incentivize SpaceX.
I'm sure I have something about the economics wrong, but I don't know what. Seems to me like we should be very close to a lot of back-burner space projects getting off the drawing boards.
SpaceX is purportedly at some point going to be able to put 100 tons in LEO for around 100M. I'll roughly assume with a second launch full of fuel, a purchaser with the right gear could put close to 100 tons on the lunar surface for 200M or so, once they get the kinks out and the price down.
So why not just pre-purchase 20 of these for your favorite lunar project, such as the ULT? If they bring prices down you get a cool lunar base. If they don't, you don't pay. That much payload delivered to the moon for $4B would be an incredible bargain, and it also serves to further incentivize SpaceX.
I'm sure I have something about the economics wrong, but I don't know what. Seems to me like we should be very close to a lot of back-burner space projects getting off the drawing boards.
What don't I understand?