What end-to-end mission cost did MESSENGER leadership estimate in 2009?
NASA's MESSENGER became the first spacecraft to orbit Mercury after a multi-flyby journey that began in 2004. In a July 2009 NASA oral-history interview, the project's deputy principal investigator put the then-current end-to-end mission plan at US$446 million. This was an estimate to complete the planned mission, not the original proposal price or a final account of later extended operations.
Published project estimate
$446 million
Cost basis: 2009
NASA / JHU/APLPublic domain
Cost evidence
Basis of the published figure
Published project estimate2009