Keep in mind...
The main function of a government space program is not to perform a mission, it's to support a government space program.
A few years back the company I work with made a proposal to NASA for the Alternate Access project, a system that would have launched a recoverable cargo carrier for about $35 million on existing surplus Titan IIs. Payload was less (1,000 - 3,000 lbs.) but the whole program development cost including three operational flights would have been less than half the cost of one ATV. Not surprisingly, it didn't fill enough government rice bowls.