Those estimates are disingenuous.
The Saturn V only cost 2.4-3.5 billion a launch when you take the money spent (adjusted for inflation) on the entire Saturn program (including R/D) then divide it by the number of launches.
500-600 million for launch is the actual cost of a single shuttle launch. Cost on the shuttle program in toto is around 150 billion total.
Saturn was a much better deal considering the larger amount it could get to LEO and GTO. Considering that the shuttle isn't even capable of a transit orbit makes Saturn a bargain by comparison.
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Those estimates are disingenuous. The Saturn V only cost 2.4-3.5 billion a launch when you take the money spent (adjusted for inflation) on the entire Saturn program (including R/D) then divide it by the number of launches. 500-600 million for launch is the actual cost of a single shuttle launch. Cost on the shuttle program in toto is around 150 billion total. Saturn was a much better deal considering the larger amount it could get to LEO and GTO. Considering that the shuttle isn't even capable of a transit orbit makes Saturn a bargain by comparison.