https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/explora...unch-fees/
EXCERPTS: Rocket launch companies are firing up about federal government plans to charge them for take-offs and landings. They say the launch fees are “grossly disproportionate” and could be up to three times the value of rocket development and mission costs.
The Australian Government has proposed charging a range of fees for permits, including for rocket launches and returns, and for launch facilities, but has just started a new round of consultations on the plan. Under the proposed cost-recovery model, if the Australian Space Agency needs to hire specialist experts to assess an application{*}, it would cost $2200 a day. Work done within the Australian Space Agency would be absorbed by the agency.
An example in the draft fees shows a launch permit might have a set fee of $40,294 and hiring an expert might cost $149,600, giving a total of $189,894. The agency would absorb part of that, leaving the company with a $149,600 bill.
But the “launch leaders” of the Australian rocket industry say the fees could cripple the fledgling space industry. [...] Southern Launch chief executive officer Lloyd Damp says New Zealand charges a flat rate of NZ$60 and the United States of America has no charges. “[This plan] threatens to impose uncompetitive costs on operators of small launch vehicles and Australian launch facility providers,” he says. “If implemented to its full extent the scheme may become a disincentive to growing the Australian sovereign space launch industry... (MORE - details)
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{*} Cynical Sindee: This is what they do: Literally invent new "specialist" genres of expertise and unnecessary paper-pushing work to provide their cronies and supporters with jobs. If it's not trendy virtue-signaling fads like "social justice" and "systemic racism" and "___ privilege" conspiracy that they're exploiting for the purpose, then some old-fashioned "gotcha" stuff like the above will still suffice.
EXCERPTS: Rocket launch companies are firing up about federal government plans to charge them for take-offs and landings. They say the launch fees are “grossly disproportionate” and could be up to three times the value of rocket development and mission costs.
The Australian Government has proposed charging a range of fees for permits, including for rocket launches and returns, and for launch facilities, but has just started a new round of consultations on the plan. Under the proposed cost-recovery model, if the Australian Space Agency needs to hire specialist experts to assess an application{*}, it would cost $2200 a day. Work done within the Australian Space Agency would be absorbed by the agency.
An example in the draft fees shows a launch permit might have a set fee of $40,294 and hiring an expert might cost $149,600, giving a total of $189,894. The agency would absorb part of that, leaving the company with a $149,600 bill.
But the “launch leaders” of the Australian rocket industry say the fees could cripple the fledgling space industry. [...] Southern Launch chief executive officer Lloyd Damp says New Zealand charges a flat rate of NZ$60 and the United States of America has no charges. “[This plan] threatens to impose uncompetitive costs on operators of small launch vehicles and Australian launch facility providers,” he says. “If implemented to its full extent the scheme may become a disincentive to growing the Australian sovereign space launch industry... (MORE - details)
- - - footnote - - -
{*} Cynical Sindee: This is what they do: Literally invent new "specialist" genres of expertise and unnecessary paper-pushing work to provide their cronies and supporters with jobs. If it's not trendy virtue-signaling fads like "social justice" and "systemic racism" and "___ privilege" conspiracy that they're exploiting for the purpose, then some old-fashioned "gotcha" stuff like the above will still suffice.