How does launch service pricing work?

Commercial launch is priced per kilogram to a specific orbit, with discounts for rideshare slots and dedicated missions priced as a single charter. Published prices range from a few thousand dollars per kg on heavy-lift reusable rockets (Falcon 9, eventually Starship) up to $50,000+ per kg on small dedicated launchers. The gap reflects launch cadence, vehicle reusability, and how much accommodation the payload requires.

Launch pricing isn’t one number. What customers pay depends on the rocket, the orbit, whether they’re booking the whole vehicle or sharing it, and how much custom integration their satellite needs.

The four pricing axes

1. Vehicle class. Heavy-lift (Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, Ariane 6, Vulcan, New Glenn, Starship) lifts ~10-100 tonnes to LEO. Medium and small-lift launchers (Electron, Alpha, RFA One, Terran-R) target 100 kg to a few tonnes. Cost-per-kg is generally lower on bigger rockets, but small launchers compete on schedule and orbit precision.

2. Orbit class. A 500 km Sun-synchronous orbit is cheaper than geostationary transfer because the rocket does less work. Trans-lunar injection and geostationary direct insertion command large multipliers.

3. Rideshare vs dedicated. Rideshare slots (like Transporter on Falcon 9 or Bandwagon rideshares) are priced at ~$5,500-$6,500 per kg for a basic LEO slot. Dedicated missions cost the full rocket. Falcon 9’s published price is ~$70M baseline. Per-kg, a fully utilised dedicated mission is cheaper; a half-full one is much more expensive.

4. Integration. Standard ESPA-class adapters and CubeSat dispensers are commoditised. Custom payload adapters, dispenser engineering, and unusual mass distribution add line items.

Where the published prices stand

A rough current map (LEO baseline):

Falcon 9 rideshare: ~$6,000/kg
Falcon 9 dedicated (small payload): effectively ~$10,000-$30,000/kg if the vehicle is under-utilised
Electron (300 kg class): roughly $7M-$8M per mission = $25,000-$30,000/kg
Ariane 6: competitive on dedicated GTO missions; rideshare pricing TBD
Starship (announced/projected): as low as $100-$200/kg if the announced cadence holds, though much higher in early years

What pricing won’t tell you

Two costs sit outside the launch contract:

Insurance: single-digit percent of mission value, but adds up for high-value satellites
Range and licensing fees: borne by the operator but billed downstream

For the launches actually flown by each operator and the dollars-per-kg implied by recent contracts, see /insights/launches.