How'd you do that?
Anyway, you're right about the $10,000 a kilogram (or pound depending on your source) is for the Shuttle. The Russian Soyuz booster costs closer to $1000 a pound (even less according to some sources). Of course, they've been using them for almost 40 years. When you count the Molynia version (has an upper stage added), they've launched about 2000 of them over the years. Between low R&D costs and mass production (and throw in the fact that they don't pay their employees very much), a Soyuz booster is quite a deal. It can carry over 7 metric tons to LEO and is even man rated with very good reliability. Their upgraded version (Aurora) of the Soyuz could cost even less per pound once the R&D costs are amortized.
The cost per pound depends a great deal on the desired orbit. It costs much less to put a payload into a low inclination LEO orbit than to put something out at geosynch. For example, a Proton booster can carry 20+ metric tons to a 51 degree inclination LEO orbit. It can only put about 2 metric tons out at geosynch and you have to add the cost of the upper stage.
Space/Science » in reply to $10,000/kg is for the space shuttle.
That was interesting.
