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Reusable Launch Vehicles or Expendable Launch Vehicles A Perennial Debate

Th e decades-long debate over reusable launch vehicles (RLVs) versus expendable launch vehicles (ELVs) has been less a reasoned debate than a sustained argument for the building of reusable launchers instead of the standard throwaway rocket. The single greatest touted advantage of reusable launch vehicles is that they reduce launch costs.' Comparing reusable and expendable rockets is not simple; it is a rather complicated task not unlike the proverbial comparing of apples and oranges. To compare the costs of the two types of rockets, we must consider two types of costs, recurring and nonrecurring. Nonrecurring costs entail those funds spent on designing, developing, researching, and engineering a launcher (called DDR&E costs). Recurring costs fall into two categories: expenses for building the launcher and the costs of its operation and maintenance. Outlays for designing, developing, researching, and engineering reusable launchers are necessarily higher than those for expendable launchers because reusable rockets are technologically more challenging. For example, a reusable launch vehicle must have advanced heat shielding to allow it to reenter the atmosphere not once, but many tim

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