re: #309 Blind Frog Belly White

Look at the size of the Saturn V, which was what it took to get 3 guys in a capsule small enough to fit in my office to the Moon.

And it took a booster just a bit smaller to put a fully-functioning space station into orbit in one go. The ISS was the result of numerous launches over several years, not something easily duplicated when one of the countries responsible suddenly decides that its launchers are no longer for sale.