re: Aircraft development price about 20-times the production price
Your laundry basket example is a very good one. It is because of mass production that we have such a high standard of living.
Everything costs a lot of money. People don't complain about most of it because they don’t know the costs, it's privately funded, and it makes money. Space program costs are very public, they don't make money directly, and production is very low. So, people freak out when they hear these billion dollar development numbers, when in fact they are inline with most other industries.