One detail about a reuseable platform, is that once bought you only have to amortize the cost of the purchase, plus per-launch costs (fuel, access, maintenance before and after, etc). If this cost can be brought below the price of expendable rockets, then the reuseable platform will be preferred.
As an example, for the Space Shuttle part of the cost was making sure all the tiles were in good shape (and properly attached) before each launch. Instead of using tiles, what if the bottom of the shuttle was made of wood? The wood burns on re-entry, but the ablating means the shuttle survives. After the shuttle lands, the wooden outside is removed (and used for a BBQ party), and a new wood surface is attached. The nice part is you can have several of them in storage, instead of each time needing to take the shuttle out of service to get the tiles hand inspected for problems.
It is another fiction story, but check out the novel "The Rocket Company".
In it a fictional group of billionaires decide to make cheap space access. They get a design team to develop it and go with:1) Cheap fuel, and plenty of it. Instead of using liquid hydrogen or other current rocket fuels, they go with methane, with is less than 1/10 the cost of similar fuels.2) Reliable engine, but larger. They base the engine off the RL-10, and make it larger. (The RL-10 was one of the most reliable engines made)3) Reliable engine, but simple. The RL-10 version they use has no turbopumps, and instead just uses a geared system.4) Big dumb booster. Fuel is cheaper, so burning more of it to put the same tonnage into orbit will still cost less. This is the first stage.5) Light upper stage. This is where you spend money, as a kilo saved here is another kilo into orbit.
6) Vertical takeoff. This allows them to be launched from anywhere in the world, and the first stage can land on the same square mile as it was launched from. So Switzerland can have a space program.
7) Vertical landing. No more worrying about mass shifts from vertical takeoff to horizontal landing, and with the fuel expended the bottom of the crafts are much heavier, making them much more stable.8) Both stages manned. So if something goes wrong with the first stage, there is a pilot to make a decision about where to steer it, instead of a range safety officer having to decide if they should blow it up.
Also, they billionaires recognized that there was not enough market for them to make money selling cheap space access. So instead they sell the launch platform to other countries, and let the other countries decide what to use it for.
As an example, for the Space Shuttle part of the cost was making sure all the tiles were in good shape (and properly attached) before each launch. Instead of using tiles, what if the bottom of the shuttle was made of wood? The wood burns on re-entry, but the ablating means the shuttle survives. After the shuttle lands, the wooden outside is removed (and used for a BBQ party), and a new wood surface is attached. The nice part is you can have several of them in storage, instead of each time needing to take the shuttle out of service to get the tiles hand inspected for problems.
It is another fiction story, but check out the novel "The Rocket Company".
In it a fictional group of billionaires decide to make cheap space access. They get a design team to develop it and go with:1) Cheap fuel, and plenty of it. Instead of using liquid hydrogen or other current rocket fuels, they go with methane, with is less than 1/10 the cost of similar fuels.2) Reliable engine, but larger. They base the engine off the RL-10, and make it larger. (The RL-10 was one of the most reliable engines made)3) Reliable engine, but simple. The RL-10 version they use has no turbopumps, and instead just uses a geared system.4) Big dumb booster. Fuel is cheaper, so burning more of it to put the same tonnage into orbit will still cost less. This is the first stage.5) Light upper stage. This is where you spend money, as a kilo saved here is another kilo into orbit.
6) Vertical takeoff. This allows them to be launched from anywhere in the world, and the first stage can land on the same square mile as it was launched from. So Switzerland can have a space program.
7) Vertical landing. No more worrying about mass shifts from vertical takeoff to horizontal landing, and with the fuel expended the bottom of the crafts are much heavier, making them much more stable.8) Both stages manned. So if something goes wrong with the first stage, there is a pilot to make a decision about where to steer it, instead of a range safety officer having to decide if they should blow it up.
Also, they billionaires recognized that there was not enough market for them to make money selling cheap space access. So instead they sell the launch platform to other countries, and let the other countries decide what to use it for.