9.29 The total number of space shuttle flights consists of the flights required for the colony construction program, plus the 582 flights to be flown in the currently projected NA_SA traffic model. This presupposes that the colony construction program is associated in time with the current shuttle mission plan, or at least not separated by a span of years great enough to negate the effects of the learning curve. However, these launch costs do not include the procurement of the orbiter vehicle. Current projections are for the procurement of 5 orbiters,to fulfill the 582 flights in the traffic model. This works out to 117 flights per vehicle. Using this figure as the average number of flights in the lifetime of an orbiter,and the initial cost of $410 million per orbiter (9.15) in 1976 dollars, the revised procurement cost per orbiter can be calculated using the learning curve and the new size of the shuttle fleet needed to carry out the expanded traffic model. Once the average price per vehicle is determined, the costs of the first 5 orbiters are charged to the programs of the original traffic model, a~d the remaining orbiter construction costs are then borne by the co~ony program. The deploy only launcher is costed on a basis similar to that of the space shuttle. However, since the DOL is developed for the space colony mission, its research and development costs must also be added to overall system cost. The R&D costs o~ the space shuttle are not figured in as part of the costs charged to the colony project, since the current NASA planning already amortizes these costs within the present traffic model. For this reason, the R&D costs of the space shuttle main engines are not charged against their use in the DOL, or the orbital transfer and lunar landing vehicles. However, the shroud and associated mechanisms must be developed for the DOL, and these costs must be considered. Referring to Table 9.1, the total inert mass of the DOL is 23285 kilograms. This does not include the mass under "margin", which represents possible DOL growth capability within a defined gross lift-off mass. Of this 23.285 tons inert mass, eleven tons are primary and secondary propulsion systems and avionics, which exist as off-the-shelf shuttle hardware. R&D costs on these systems
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