The shuttle payload to ISS is less than to LEO, 16,050 kg, so its cost is also higher at $93,400/kg.
The cost of a Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule mission to ISS is about $140 million with a payload of 6,000 kg, $23,300/kg. The key factor is that the space shuttle can provide cargo and crew to ISS while the Falcon 9 must also use the Dragon capsule, which adds cost and reduces payload. Specifically, it has been claimed that commercial spaceflight has not reduced the cost to provide cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). NASA supported the development of commercial space launch and NASA science anticipates lower cost missions, but human space flight planning seems unreactive. The military foresees an opportunity to rapidly replace compromised space assets that provided communications, weather, surveillance, and positioning. Existing launch providers are reducing their costs and so are satellite developers. This will have a substantial impact on the space industry, military space, and NASA. Commercial launch has reduced the cost to LEO by a factor of 20. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 now advertises a cost of $62 million to launch 22,800 kg to LEO, $2,720/kg. NASA’s space shuttle had a cost of about $1.5 billion to launch 27,500 kg to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), $54,500/kg. The development of commercial launch systems has substantially reduced the cost of space launch.
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