> Add to that the fuel for the launch vehicle; and fuel for the the cruise stage. What you've just said is the equivalent of someone witnessing a Ferrari crash

> Add to that the fuel for the launch vehicle; and fuel for the the cruise stage. What you've just said is the equivalent of someone witnessing a Ferrari crash into a tree and destroy itself, and saying 'Ouch, that's an expensive tank of fuel he's just wasted'. In fact the costs of fuel for these things are trivially small, basically inconsequential, compared to the cost of the things that are using the fuel - the rocket and the cruise stage. You don't get them back, they're single use, expended as part of the mission, and they're expensive.