[DancesWithBolsheviks]

I’m not imagining any specific ‘tech transfer’ but instead the assurance that it was feasible by previous example and the use of general technologies that have had advances in the past 39 years.

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

I don’t think the author was comparing 1960’s prices for NASA with 2008 prices for ISRO. If anything, the manufacturing experience NASA enjoys should ideally make development costs substantially cheaper for NASA.