Cassini Swarm
1997 Cassini-Huygens Mission Budget
Space travel has become significantly less expensive since the launch of the Cassini-Huygens probe in 1997. Publications from NASA indicate the following project expenses in 1997 adjusted to present value for convenience [1]:
Launch Cost in 1997 and 2014
The launch vehicle used for the mission was a Titan IV rocket which had an average launch cost of $450 million [2] at the time, or $640 million in 2014. In contrast, a launch using a Delta IV rocket, engineered as a replacement for the Titan IV to reduce launch costs, currently costs $80 million. Below is a comparison of launch options for the Cassini Swarm [3] [4] [5] [6]:
Expected Mission Expenses:
Instead of using the cost-plus contract approach frequently used by government agencies, a more efficient approach similar to the one used by SpaceX will be employed. SpaceX’ estimated cost to develop the Falcon 9 v1.0 rocket was $300 million, compared to a NASA estimate of $3.6 billion using cost-plus contract. By assuming that the type of support and development needed for the Cassini Swarm mission is very similar to the Cassini-Huygens mission (collecting and processing scientific data), scaling the data by the estimates proposed by SpaceX and NASA for the Falcon 9 development, and correcting the data to meet the actual current cost for a space launch of up to 5000kg, the expected mission expenses are:
Proposed Mission Budget
Since the launch of the Cassini-Huygens probe in 1997, the expense of space exploration has considerably decreased.
References:
[1] http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/quickfacts/
[2] www.dote.osd.mil/pub/reports/FY1999/pdf/99titaniv.pdf
[3] http://nextbigfuture.com/2007/05/current-and-recent-space-launch-costs.html
[4] http://www.spaceflight101.com/falcon-9-launch-vehicle-information.html
[5] http://www.spaceflight101.com/delta-iv-medium-52.html
[6] http://www.spaceflight101.com/ariane-5-eca.html
CubeSat Orbiter Expenses:
The CubeSats that will be placed in orbit around Titan will be built in a standard 3U enclosure with fully radiation hardened components and powered by small RTGs. Their cost [7] [8], broken down on the right, is much higher than for a LEO mission, but orders of magnitude lower than a full-sized orbiter such as the Cassini probe: