Space X
The brief history of SpaceX is illuminating.
Too Cheap To Re-Use
Their original goal was to make a disposable launcher so cheap that it didn't matter that it got thrown away. They did some clever engineering in support of this. For example, their rocket engine bells were made by making two skins about the right shape and crimping them together to form the cooling channels.
This is far quicker and easier than brazing together miles of tubing as was done for the Saturn V's F1s.
Ok, Gonna Have to Re-Use
However their more recent move towards attempting to recover the first stage for re-use suggests that they may not have managed to make the manufacturing cheap enough.
Need to Spend More on QC
Their most recent failure seems to be entirely down to inadequate quality control. A strut, bought from a supplier, did not have the required strength (and nor did some others still on the shelf), and a helium tank broke loose and compromised the structural integrity of the quiescent second stage.
This is entirely down to inadequate quality control on the part of their supplier, and an inadequate quality assurance process within SpaceX. The only way of fixing that is more process.
Add That All Up...
Add this all together and it stacks up to a business that is gradually learning why the government programs were so darn expensive. Getting every component exactly right every time is a ferociously expensive business.
Skylon
I'm far from convinced that efforts like Space X can make truly large cost savings in the satellite launching business. Arianne is highly reliable, long lived, and goes off regular as clockwork. If Ariannespace haven't yet (they've had plenty of time) managed to make their ordered-to-launched process as cheap as possible then I don't know who can. And they use solid boosters too, which is a massive cost saving over liquid fuelled rockets.
Skylon is a completely different proposition, and is about the only idea out there that doesn't involve manufacturing something large and expensive every time it's launched. If it costs something like £20million or less to launch it, it's a going concern.
Plus it would be one hell of a ride. I'm game!
Last edited by msbbarratt; 11th November 2015 at 20:20.