Insane amount of money it likely cost SpaceX to launch rescue crew to ISS for ‘stranded’ NASA astronauts

Launching a rocket isn’t cheap

The end is finally in sight.

The Falcon 9 successfully lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:04 p.m. EDT on Friday (14 March), marking the long-awaited rescue mission for NASA astronauts Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore and Sunita ‘Suni’ Williams.

Onboard the Dragon capsule are Crew-10’s four astronauts: NASA’s Nichole Ayers and Anne McClain, Roscosmos astronaut Kirill Peskov, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Takuya Onishi.

Following a couple of days handover, Williams and Wilmore are due back on Earth after an unexpectedly long mission.

The Falcon 9 blasted off on Friday. NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty

SpaceX had originally planned to launch the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft in February before being pushed back until March.

Both missions were aborted last minute due to technical issues with the rocket’s clamp arm and hydraulics of the launch tower, respectively.

However, third time lucky, everything went as planned as many watched the Falcon 9 blast off on Friday.

Wilmore and Williams are to be transported home with another American astronaut and a Russian cosmonaut aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon craft, which arrived at the ISS early on Sunday.

Now that Wilmore and Williams are finally heading home, you might be wondering – how much did this mission actually cost?

Getting to orbit has become more cost-efficient over the years, thanks to reusable rockets and advancements in spaceflight technology. However, when human passengers are involved, things get considerably more expensive.

Turns out, according to Wikipedia, standard Falcon 9 launch costs around $69.75 million as of 2024.

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Williams and Wilmore have been stranded on the ISS for over nine months. MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO / Contributor / Getty

But when you add the Crew Dragon capsule, which is necessary for carrying astronauts, the cost jumps to approximately $140 million per launch.

Why’s that?

Well, the Crew Dragon capsule increases the total mass of the rocket, meaning there is less room for cargo. The spacecraft is also packed with extra safety systems, life support and human-rated components, which drive up costs.

The Falcon 9 is capable of carrying a little over 13,000 pounds when human passengers are onboard.

To put it into perspective, the cost per pound for a crewed launch is about $10,000.

The cost of launching a rocket isn’t cheap – and probably never will be.

But with the combined efforts of private and public space explorers, launches have become more cost-effective.

For example, Elon Musk’s space company has made multiple missions possible with the same hardware by exploring reusable rockets.

Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has developed two reusable rocket systems: the New Shepard for suborbital flights and the New Glenn for orbital missions, both designed for vertical take-off and landing.