Those pix remoind me of the set for a James Bond film with a rather small tricked-out space vehicle and a couple of men running around in plastic suits, then a perfectly normal SUV parked in the background.

Seriously, it shows that travelling to space need not be the highest-tech space science and that a lot of short-cuts can be taken to save money, expecially if there is no human crew. The long in-orbit capacity of the vehicle is a consequence of removing the need for human comfort, and using storable hypergolic propellants (hence the plastic suits). The Shuttle used these same fuels for its orbital manouvring system, and safety precautions had to be taken after landing to keep the crew away from the fumes...