How much does a rocket design study cost?

The honest answer is "it depends on scope" — but most teams asking this question want a number before they'll pick up the phone. Here is exactly what a fixed-price rocket design study costs at AeroVectrix, and what pushes the price toward the top or bottom of each range.

Three fixed-scope tiers

Concept Feasibility Review — $2,400 fixed, 5 business days. A single architecture option, a top-level mass and delta-v estimate, a propulsion shortlist, and the key risk flags. This is the right entry point if you need a sanity check before committing to a full study.

Rocket Design Study, Starter Package — $4,900–$9,500 fixed, 10 business days. Adds a staging and mass budget, a propulsion trade study, a payload interface draft, and a risk register with a cost envelope. Most customers land here.

Extended Design & Review Package — $14,500–$22,000 fixed, 15 business days. Everything in Starter, plus two architecture trade options, a structural and avionics concept pass, a review-board walkthrough session, and two revision rounds.

What moves the number inside a range

Within the Starter and Extended bands, price scales with mission complexity: number of stages, propulsion type (a storable-propellant trade study is faster to close than a multi-cycle methalox comparison), how firm the payload envelope already is, and how many stakeholders need to sign off on the review-board walkthrough.

Why fixed price instead of hourly

Every package is priced and agreed before work starts, so there is no open-ended billing and no surprise invoice. The clock only starts once scope is confirmed on an intake call — so the number you agree to is the number you pay.

Get your exact number

The fastest way to find out what your mission would cost is a short scoping conversation. Tell us the payload mass, target orbit, and rough timeline, and we'll fit you to a tier and confirm the price in writing.

Get a fixed quote We reply within 1 business day with a scoped quote.