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Recently, in the space market, there has been a rapid reduction in the launch price. The major reason for this is that a few commercial companies began to enter the space market about ten years ago, which has changed the space market from monopolization to competition and accelerated the adoption of commercial efficiency in technology and management. Also, SpaceX made a breakthrough by successfully recovering the first stage of its launch vehicle in 2016, thereby opening the door to reusable launch vehicles. They have declared their intention to significantly reduce satellite launch costs in the future by utilizing the potential of reusable launch vehicles. In this study, we calculate the total launch cost required to place a single satellite into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and compare the launch costs for three different payload capacity scenarios, investigating how payload capacity affects the cost-effectiveness of reusable launch vehicles. The launch cost is broken down into development costs, production costs, reuse costs, operational costs, fixed costs, and insurance costs, with cost estimation equations utilized based on cost calculation models such as TRANSCOST.

Rocket launches are a source of anthropogenic disturbance to Central Kazakhstan ecosystems. Multistage launch vehicles (LV) are used for orbit insertion of different spacecrafts from the Baikonur cosmodrome (Republic of Kazakhstan). The launch consists of stages during which the rocket separates successively, with pieces falling to the ground along the flight route of the LV. Regions of first stage falling located in Central Kazakhstan endure the most intensive impact. First stage fallings lead to mechanical and pyrogenic disturbance and pollution by fuel components. We characterized vegetation changes at the first stage falling sites of ‘Proton-M’ rocket carriers during two growing seasons. Spontaneous revegetation by ruderal plant communities occurs after falling. First stage falling sites have lower vegetation cover and species diversity. Ceratocarpus arenarius is a dominant species in plant communities at the sites that have been affected by first stage falling. After winter rocket launches vegetation is less deteriorated at the falling sites than after spring and summer launches. The recovery process in plant communities is considerably faster at falling sites corresponding to winter rocket launches. Nomenclature: S.K. Cherepanov (1995).

Snow cover contamination is assessed in the impact areas of the first stage of the expandable launch system Proton in Central Kazakhstan. It was revealed that the chemical effect ofpropellants on the snow cover is local. The increase in the content of the following high-toxic substances in the snow was registered: unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine, nitrosodimethylamine, and nitrate and nitrite ions. The most part of the pollutants is localized in the upper 5-cm snow layer. Nitrogen tetroxide decreases the value of pH, and unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine increases it. The inflow of calcareous soil particles to the atmosphere and their subsequent fallout result in the alkalization of snow and in the neutralization of acidification by nitrogen tetroxide accompanied by the formation ofthe salts of nitric acid and nitrous acid.