Structure/Aerobrakes. The materials needed for the vehicle include aluminum members, insulation for the fuel tanks, wiring, etc. Based on experience at American Rocket, a good average price for such material is about $2OO/kg. For the vehicle, this represents about $15 000000. Engines. Pratt & Whitney RL-10 engines, when purchased in quantity, cost about $2 500000. 17 RL-1 O's = $42 500000. LOx and hydrogen can be purchased for $0.10/kg and $2.30/kg respectively. The total price is about $90000. Cargo. The equipment the colonists will be bringing along could be purchased for about $20 000 000. (The control package electronics and the solar panels drive the cost here). Ground Support. $45 000000 (100 people X $75 000 X 6) should cover six years worth of work (three years analysis and design, followed by three years construction). Crew /Storage /Power Modules. This will undoubtably be the most expensive portion of the ship. As a very rough estimate, we assume $85 000 000. This estimate is based on the cost/kg of the B-l, and the assumption that typical aerospace product costs apply. However, it may be possible to reduce this cost substantially. Total. This brings the total to about $995 190000. Raising Money The effective cost is going to be brought down by income from the sale of space platform services. Again, estimates are difficult to make, but, based, on the one hand, on the estimate made by Space Industries of $140000000/year charged to the government to lease 30% of the space aboard the ISF, and, on the other hand, on the existence of lower launch costs, we will assume $200 000 000/year will be brought in by a typical space platform. However, the crew module/space platform would be in competition with dedicated space platforms. Also, lower launch costs should bring down the price tag of space platform services. Therefore, as a conservative estimate, we will assume that the sale of such services will bring in only $20 000 000/year (total income during construction = $60 000 000). Certainly there will be many ways to raise money through publicity. Just how much is very difficult to estimate, because it depends on the mood of the general public, and the inventiveness of the public relations department. Finally, many universities and research institutions would pay dearly to have their experiments carried along. This could turn out to be a very long-term source of income, as the settlers are asked to perform experiments and observations throughout their stay on Deimos. How much their time is worth will depend on the demand. With a 200 day trip time, a crew of 6, and a price tag of just under $1 000000000, this means a price per person/day of just over $800 000.
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