> The ISS is literally the most expensive physical structure we have ever built, and it's like 5 floating schoolbuses. Most of that cost was in the cost of la

> The ISS is literally the most expensive physical structure we have ever built, and it's like 5 floating schoolbuses. Most of that cost was in the cost of launching it (and the inflation in the price of the modules knowing that they are "priceless" and "can't fail" and "we can only build one copy of it"). Further it's all engineered to very fine margins. The more you get your margins down the more cost these things take. One-offs of anything tend to be expensive. One-offs of very tight margin things are even more expensive. There's nothing in the ISS that is especially exotic. It's copper wiring and aluminum pressure vessels.