Top 10 Most Expensive Space Missions In The History

Rishabh Nakra

Admin and Founder of ‘The Secrets Of The Universe’ and former intern at Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore, I am a science student pursuing a Master’s in Physics from India. I love to study and write about Stellar Astrophysics, Relativity & Quantum Mechanics.

Life on Earth, as well as extraterrestrial life, has always been a matter of curiosity. Various space missions have been carried out so far to study and investigate the secrets of the universe. With the development of science and technology, the study of outer space has now reached a different level. Of all these here the top 10 most expensive space missions. Here are the most expensive space missions in history.

10. Mars Curiosity Worth $ 2.5 Billion.

Curiosity Mars rover arrived on Mars on August 6, 2012. It is a very popular space mission that was initially estimated to cost around $ 650 million but turned out be a lot more than its double.

9. Cassini-Huygens Worth $ 3.26 Billion.

This space mission was exclusively created to explore the mighty ringed planet Saturn and its rings by NASA, the European space agency and the Italian space agency. It was launched on October 15, 1997. During 2005, it entered the atmosphere of Saturn.

Also Read: Journey Of Stars On The Hertzsprung Russell Diagram

8. Mir Orbital Station worth $ 4.2 Billion.

“Mir” is a manned space mission by Russia that operated in the near-Earth space from February 20, 1986. It spent 5511 days in the Earth’s orbit, of which 4594 days were inhabited, making 86,331 turns around the planet. The station was visited by 104 astronauts from 12 countries and more than 23,000 experiments were conducted on it.

7. GLONASS worth $ 4.7 Billion

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) is a Russian satellite system. It is one of the two global satellite navigation systems. The system is based on 24 satellites moving above the Earth’s surface.

6. Galileo Satellite Navigation System Worth $ 6.3 Billion

Galileo system is designed to solve geodetic and navigation problems. It is joint project of the satellite navigation system of the European Union and the European space agency.

5. James Webb Space Telescope Worth $ 8.8 Billion

This is an orbital observatory that is supposed to replace the Hubble Space Telescope. Current plans suggest that the telescope will be launched by the International cooperation of 17 countries led by NASA, using the Ariane-5 rocket in the spring of 2020. The telescope will operate for atleast 5 years.

Also watch: The comparison of Hubble and James Webb Space Telescope

4. GPS Worth $ 12 Billion

GPS is a satellite navigation system that is responsible for determining location. It provides distance, time and position determination in the world wide WGS 84 coordinate system. The system is currently available for civilian use with the help of a navigator or a device such as a smart phone with a GPS receiver. It provides location almost everywhere in the world except for the circumpolar regions.

3. The Apollo Program Worth $ 25.4 Billion

The Apollo program was a NASA space agency manned space flight program. It was adopted in 1961 with the agenda of carrying out the first human landing on the Moon. It stands third on the list of most expensive space missions.

2. ISS Worth $ 160 Billion

The International Space Station is a manned orbital station which is used a multipurpose space research system. It is joint international project involving 14 countries.

1. The Space Shuttle Program worth $ 209 Billion

The Space Shuttle Program was developed since 1971 and it tops the list of the most expensive space missions . Its development is carried out by NASA and the Air Force. Five shuttles were built, two of them were killed in disaster and one prototype.

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