each use, at the crew module/space platform. Eventually, aerobrakes will be manufactured at the colony, once more people have arrived). Using the same accounting methods, follow on colony missions should cost about $400000000. Not every cargo ship will be used by the colony operation. Once the second or third ship has been sent to Deimos, and a supply ship propellant reserve has been built up, the cargo ships could be sold to commercial space companies. Once this begins happening, the cargo would not be limited to water. Potential Deimos exports include: food, fertilizer, soil, shielding mass, armor, raw metal, processed metal, and aerobrakes. Potential customers include both government and private LEO/GEO space stations and platforms, OTVs, lunar bases, and both manned and unmanned planetary missions. Obviously, we are assuming the existence of a market for the returned material. Depending on what kind of scenario is envisioned for future space industries/activi- ties, we feel a market will exist. And even if it did not at the start of the project, access to inexpensive resources in LEO would almost certainly create the market we need. There are a great many people interested in doing things in space. The only thing that stands in their way is the price per kilogram barrier. Given such developments, the colony has the potential to become very profitable. This is a long-term goal, however. Assuming an operating cost (for the Mars corporation on Earth) of $50 000 000/yr, and the cost of two additional colony missions, several supply ships, and an orbital electrolysis facility, and that it will be at least ten years before cargo ships can be sold commercially, the total price tag, including the first mission, is approximately $3 000000000. As was the case with colonies in history, this colony would be investment intensive in the short run, and profitable in the long run. Supply Ships The Colonists will, for a very long time, be dependant on earth for things like high tech electronics, vitamins, medicines, new technology, etc. At first, the 10-ton-to-LEO ELV will be used to put small cargo ships into orbit. A single ELV launch should be sufficient to put an upper stage in LEO that can deliver approximately 2 tons to Deimos, assuming the vehicle has a single RL-10 engine (more are always needed at the colony), and uses aerobraking at Mars. How many small supply ships will be required, and whether or not to include the cost of all of them with the up-front cost of the Mars mission, will depend on many things: when resupply is needed, how successful the colonists are at becoming self- sufficient, the currently unknown influence the local environment will have on what supplies are needed, etc. Later on, supply ships could be quite large, using the readily available LOx/hydro- gen from cargo ship water. Mars Another major activity taking place at the colony will be the exploration and settlement of Mars. From Deimos, the delta-v required to reach the surface of Mars (with aerobraking
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