You know what ? I believe you , she said with a bright smile . <| sep |> HOLY FUCKING THAT BREAKING NEWS ON THE BOTTOM LINE . <| sep |> It would never be standard . It assumes that rocket engine will always be super expensive . If that assumption changes , then everything revert back to how bighow high can you throw for same price . If Soyuz 5 can fly 1012 times a year , it will be able to offer same price as falcon 9 without recovery . Simply because Soyuz has far less number of engines , more thrust , at no cost methane russia is the biggest gas producer in the planet , and lower cost manufacturing . And of course the ever present currency fluctuation . 5 % movement alone would render any Falcon X advantage nll . And remember Russia has huge catalog of solid rocket booster that they can slap on soyuz 5 at ultra low cost . And second generation hydrogen stage in the making . Space X has none of that for their launch . Of course Falcon 9 can offer cheaper still price , but at the cost of not being able to lift more weight or higher orbit . Ultimately , I think space x will win on low orbit price . But anything above 10 tons , gto , and beyond are Ariane , Angara , Soyuz . ULA won ' t even make the list . They will be bludgeon to death in price war .