The spectacular development that science and technology has had in the last century has taken A high economic cost. Some projects have reached the figure of several hundreds of billions of dollarswhich attests to the complexity they represent and is an incentive to address them from the collaboration between nationsas exemplifies the International Space Station and others. Assessing your cost is not easy, since the figures can vary according to sources and over time They accumulate very high operating costs. But what can be assured is that, since the twentieth century, the most advanced scientific and technological projects They have reached colossal budgets, as certified by the 5 most expensive in history.
Iter (international experimental thermal reactor)
He International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor It is an international research and development project of a nuclear fusion reactor that is currently being built in France. Seeks to demonstrate The viability of nuclear fusion at an industrial scale as a source of clean and practically inexhaustible energy. The iter is still ongoing project that began in 1988 and has been accumulating delays. In July 2024, a new calendar was announced that included the full plasma current in 2034the beginning of operations with deuterium-deuterium plasma in 2035 and deuterium-treatment operations in 2039. It is estimated that its total cost will be Between 20,000 and 45,000 million dollars; The exact figure varies as forecasts, delays and contributions from partner countries are updated.
Manhattan project
He Manhattan project allowed the development of Little boy and Fat manthe only two atomic bombs that have been used in a conflict. They killed hundreds of thousands of people and ended the Second World Warforcing to Japan to his surrender. It is estimated that it had a cost of about 2,000 million dollars between 1942 and 1946, which would be equivalent about 35,000 million today.
Apollo program
He Apollo program He managed to put man on the moon, marking a milestone in space exploration and promoting technological advances in computer science, telecommunications and materials over a decade. Between 1961 and 1972carried out a total of 17 missionsof which 6 Alunizar in the satellite. It had a cost of 25,000 million dollars at the time, which today would be about 190,000 million.
International Space Station
The International Space Station was put into orbit between 1998 and 2011encrying by then its cost in 150,000 million dollars. Since then, that number has been growing due to the operational costs and the addition of a new module; Nauka replaced to PIRS in the Russian segment of the station in 2021. It is estimated that it could have reached the 200,000 million dollarsand what still has left until his exorbitation in 2030. During the 27 years he has been orbiting the earth, the EEI has been fundamental to understand the effects of life in space and prepare future missions to the moon and Mars.
Shuttle Space Transfording Program
With an estimated total cost of more than 209,000 million dollars During its three decades of operation (1981-2011), this NASA program was responsible for launching the reusable iconic transforders and can be considered The most expensive in history. It was very expensive, but allowed the construction and maintenance of the International Space Stationthe launch of satellites and the realization of scientific experiments in orbit. In fact, the trips he made for the EEI had a cost of 50,000 million. There were 36 missions, at a rate of 1.4 billion dollars each.