a lot of the cost of a given spacecraft is the years of test and verification that goes into inspecting the hardware and confirming that it is flight-ready. tha

a lot of the cost of a given spacecraft is the years of test and verification that goes into inspecting the hardware and confirming that it is flight-ready. that involves dozens or hundreds of engineers working long hours in clean rooms with enormous vacuum chambers. also god only knows what the electronics on these spy satellites looks like. i wouldn't be surprised if there is significant custom silicon on them.