SpaceX forecasts plummeting launch costs
June 9, 2026

By Chris Forrester



The SpaceX formal presentation linked to its upcoming Initial Public Offering (IPO) says that the once-upon-a-time average rocket launch costs of some $18,500 (€16,006) per kilogram. That cost, says SpaceX, has fallen to a much more appealing $2,700 per kilo thanks to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket fleet.

SpaceX says that the Falcon 9 ‘Heavy’ system (which comprises a Falcon 9 rocket plus two strap-on boosters) has seen launch costs fall to $1,400 per kilo.


SpaceX, in its presentation to bankers (titled Building the infrastructure of the future) says that its target is to use and re-use its Starship rockets which will then see launch costs tumble by 99 per cent.

When the cost of reaching orbit falls by these orders of magnitude, space itself stops being a rare government event and starts becoming industrial infrastructure that will attract new developments and investment.

Starlink’s various ambitions include orbital manufacturing, Lunar shipments and residency, AI computing and the possibility of Mars “colonisation”. Perhaps more ambitious is the concept of intercontinental travel: New York to London, or San Francisco to Hong Kong in 30 minutes or so at a speed of some 27,000 km/hour. Quite where local authorities would place these landing and launch zones in the future remains open to discussion!.

The prospects of these super-Concorde flight times slashing flying time is considerable. As one observer commented: “Railroads didn’t succeed because the trains were bigger; they succeeded because the cost per mile collapsed. Starship isn’t a transportation story—it’s an infrastructure story that shifts space from a cost center to a wealth generator.”

The Starship intercontinental suggestions:

• Los Angeles to New York: 5h 25m → 25 min

• Bangkok to Dubai: 6h 25m → 27 min

• Tokyo to Singapore: 7h 10m → 28 min

• London to New York: 7h 55m → 29 min

• New York to Paris: 7h 20m → 30 min

• Sydney to Singapore: 8h 20m → 31 min