Space projects have been experiencing crippling difficulties in getting access to private capital markets. As launch operations move from public management to the tougher \u27real world 1 , competition will generate increased access to space, better launch operations and lower project costs. These changes will dramatically improve the cash flow projections and risks of space projects, enabling them to gain access to capital.
This paper will give examples of how launch delays can devastate the rate of return on a project. It will also illustrate how fast turnaround can be used to reduce costs and the effect of competition on payload prices