sjb (08/11/82)
NASA says that it won't break even on the STS program until at least 1989. The problem is that, due to soaring inflation, shuttle flights now cost over $200 million, while they charge customers a little over $30 million to rent space on board. Adding to that cost is $30 million to replace an engine that blew up this past April in a test and the fact that each flight can only carry 40,000 pounds of cargo, not 55,000, and this will be even less when it is launched from California. The GAO told Congress that the entire shuttle program is expected to top $21 billion.