Why does US' Artemis II mission cost 430x more than India's entire Chandrayaan program?
NASA's Artemis II mission, the first mission in 50 years to take humans to the Moon, cost $93 billion (nearly ₹8.7 lakh crore) or over 430x more than India's entire Chandrayaan program. One key reason is that Chandrayaan missions are robotic, making them lighter, simpler and cheaper. ISRO also reuses technology, limits mission components and relies heavily on domestic capabilities.