What is going on with our space programs. there has been little or know development and shuttles have failed.?

In order to make our dreams of conquering space a reality, we need to develop a reliable and inexpensive means of accessing it. Currently, it costs approximately $10,000 for every pound we place in orbit. Most of that is burned up as fuel in the inefficient chemical rockets we currently use. What we need is some serious development in something like a space elevator. Not something big, heavy and expensive like the Ares I and Ares V launch vehicles. The Constellation program is billed as 'Apollo in steroids'. Sure it will get us to the Moon, but in 2020 we will be asking ourselves the same thing we asked in 1969. Now what?