How much do rockets cost?

Only some manufacturers publish prices. In 2024 SpaceX advertised the Falcon 9 at $69.75 million and the Falcon Heavy at about $97 million in recoverable configuration; Rocket Lab sells its small Electron for about $7.5 million. That price covers the vehicle, the launch campaign and integration, but not the satellite or its insurance. The internal cost is lower when the first stage is reused: SpaceX has stated that an already-flown Falcon 9 costs it a fraction of what it charges for one.

At the other extreme are rockets developed with public funding and no reuse. NASA's Office of Inspector General estimated in 2023 that each SLS will cost more than $2 billion per flight, not counting the Orion capsule or ground infrastructure. Europe's Ariane 6 was designed with a target price of between €70 and €115 million depending on whether it flies with two or four solid boosters.

Three factors explain the difference. Scale: a small rocket is cheaper overall but more expensive per kilogram, about $25,000 per kilo on Electron versus under $3,000 on a Falcon 9 to low Earth orbit. Reuse, which spreads the hardware cost across many flights. And cadence: a line that launches more than a hundred times a year amortizes factories, pads and teams far better than one that flies twice. A light rocket makes sense when the customer needs a specific orbit and its own date; if it accepts sharing a ride, the price per kilo drops sharply. Rideshares have cut the cost of access even further: SpaceX charges from about $6,000 per kilogram on its Transporter missions (as of December 2024).