1.9 Which is the cheaper reference system design - Rockwell's or Boeing's? Within the range of present uncertainties, total system cost is the same for both designs. While the most recent estimates show the Boeing satellite to be cheaper, it is also heavier and the transportation cost is therefore higher. Both designs assume cost improvements of a factor of 10 or more in several elements (space transportation, solar arrays, etc.) in order to make the system economically viable. Thus, their ''estimates'' are really more in the nature of goals. Comparable sets of figures derived in early 1979 are shown in the following table. Boeing Rockwell (Millions of 1977 dollars) Satellite 3,917 5,328 Ground Receiving Station 2,242 3,600 Space Transportation 3,248 1,872 Space Construction & Support 1,463 1,152 Mass Contingency 1,130 1,872 Management and Integration 421 576 $12,421 $14,400 The SPS PO is currently auditing these cost estimates. Preliminary indications are that SPS costs may be in the neighborhood of $3600 per kilowatt, compared to the approximately $2400/KW estimated by the contractors. The audit is continuing, however, and will be fully reported later in the year. The problems inherent in deriving SPS cost estimates have been treated extensively by Hazelrigg who indicates that "it is not, by any means available today, possible to predict the cost of an SPS to be buil^in the year 2000, to better than about an order of magnitude." HAdapted from Table 3.11 of ''Preliminary Comparative Assessment of the Satellite Power System and Alternative Technologies” by T. Wolsko, et al, Argonne National Laboratory (in press). 12 ''Costing the Satellite Power System” by Dr. George A. Hazelrigg, Jr., American Astronautical Society, paper for AAS 78-166, November 1978.
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