'ISS, Apollo and more': 6 most expensive mega-projects that redefined space exploration

Space missions mirror more than scientific curiosity, they symbolise global cooperation, several decades of research, and huge financial commitment. Here are six of the most expensive space endeavours in history.

The most costly man-made structure ever built, the International Space Station (ISS), has cost an estimated $150 billion. The construction of the station began in 1998, and it has been continuously occupied since 2000. The ISS is a collaboration between several countries and their space organisations like NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA, and CSA, serving as a laboratory for science and diplomacy in low Earth orbit.

Running from 1981 to 2011, NASA’s Space Shuttle Programme cost approximately $209 billion according to the estimated figures. It enabled regular human missions to space, including satellite deployment, ISS construction, as well as scientific experiments. Unlike the previous missions, the shuttle’s partial reusability was one of the a defining feature of its design.

Operating from 1961 to 1972, the Apollo missions were the United States’ response to the space race during the soviet era. Costing around $109 billion (adjusted for inflation), the programme ha achieved its goal when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the Moon in July 1969, becoming the first man on the moon. It remains a landmark in human history and exploration.

Launched in December 2021, the James Webb Space Telescope is one of the most sophisticated observatories ever built. Still in place, the telescope continues to help in space explorations. At a cost of approximately $8.8 billion, it is designed to look deeper into space—and further back in time—than any telescope before it.

Developed by the US Department of Defense, the GPS programme began in the year 1978 and remains in operation today. With a total cost of approximately around $12 billion, GPS now underpins global navigation, finance, and telecommunications.

Deployed in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has cost around $10 billion, including servicing missions and ongoing operations, making last to the list. Orbiting above Earth's atmosphere, it has provided images that have really transformed our understanding of space.