Well, anything you and I can add are mere speculations without an authoritative source. However; I doubt that Boeing could afford to sink their own money into this flight since their executive management already made noise about shutting down the D-IV production line if it's not gong to make money.<br /><br />But I see the $140M price tag reasonable, although maybe bare-bone minimum. Boeing had initially advertised a Heavy launch about $160M. A part of usual price tag include all the analysis performed in relation to the payload and, since this is a dummy payload, that part of cost was eliminated. <br /><br />Boeing sunk its own money to build the Heavy from day one, while LockMart waited for the Air Force to pay them to build one. If you are in management, then LockMart was smarter in their approach. But if you are pro-space, then you have to admire Boeing for taking that plunge. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>