Written 2022-02-01
The spending on the Manhattan and Apollo projects was relatively small, compared to modern spending for large tech companies:
Megaprojects
Manhattan Project
Total cost: $23B spent over seven years (in 2020 dollars, originally $2B)
1939-1946
130,000 people
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Apollo Project
Total cost: $158B spent over 11 years (in 2020 dollars, originally $25.4B)
1961-1972 At its peak, the Apollo program employed 400,000 people and required the support of over 20,000 industrial firms and universities.
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Tech Companies
Alphabet
$141.3B annual operating expenses (2020)
150,028 employees
Amazon
$71.34B annual operating expenses (2020)