The central thesis of the Power Abundance suite is that cheap, plentiful energy is what unlocks large-scale spaceflight. This calculator makes that idea quantitative: as global energy abundance rises, the cost of reaching orbit falls and capability climbs, because propellant, manufacturing, orbital power, and ISRU all get cheaper together.
Move a single slider for energy abundance and watch launch cost per kilogram drop while mass-to-orbit, available space power, and return on investment rise — a compact way to explain why the energy transition and the space economy are the same story.
The model treats launch cost as inversely related to energy abundance: as more energy becomes available and cheaper, the effective cost multiplier shrinks, so a high-abundance world drives cost per kilogram down toward a small fraction of the baseline. The abundance factor lets you tune how aggressively that decline happens.
At the same time, cheaper energy raises capability. Mass delivered to orbit and power available in space both scale up with abundance, and the ROI figure reflects the compounding effect of doing more for less. The point is not precise forecasting but showing the direction and steepness of the relationship.
Starting from $2,000/kg, raising energy abundance from a near-term level toward an abundant regime can cut cost per kilogram by well over half while multiplying mass-to-orbit and space power — the flip point where space stops being scarce and starts being routine. Nudging the abundance factor shows how sensitive that flip is to how quickly energy gets cheap.
No. It is a directional model that illustrates how energy cost and space cost move together; treat the numbers as scenario comparisons.
Propellant, materials, and manufacturing are all energy inputs, so falling energy prices ripple through the entire cost of reaching and operating in space.
A rough measure of average continuous global power available; higher values represent an energy-rich civilisation.
Yes — adjust the sliders and copy the result, or bookmark the page with your chosen language.
Only to load fonts and ads; the calculation itself runs entirely in your browser.