I don't want a bridge to no where, I want an interstate to the planets. There's nothing wrong with building infrastructure if it's built right and has an actual purpose. The ISS is neither.

With a HLLV, you don't have to be as concerned with weight as with a smaller launcher. A station could be built with heavier more durable components. A station that could last for decades in orbit. Design its various systems with plug and play capability so it can be upgradeable and easily maintained. Have a VASIMR module onboard to keep its orbit from decaying. Outfit it with the equipment needed for space construction, such as robotic welders.

Build a 2nd generation shuttle that can bring back large payloads as well as launch them. A shuttle that's launched into space aboard the same HLLV that's used for other missions. The shuttle would be able to bring back any broken or outdated equipment from the space station on return trips. Since the shuttle has to come home sometime, anything it brought back would be a free ride.

Once that infrastructure is in place, begin to design and build deep space vessels that could go anywhere in the solar system within a year. Large nuclear powered craft that would have the bulk to protect their crew from space radiation and other hazards. Once one of these ships reached orbit of the Moon, Mars, Europa, Titan, or where ever, they could land astronauts by a standardized SSTO lander.

A SSTO vehicle may be hard to design for Earth, but one for Mars would be far easier. If it could take off and land on Mars, then it would be viable for any other small body in the solar system. Let the mothership get you there, then use a lander to travel to and from the surface.

That's what I call a comprehensive and successful space program.