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> I'd peg that mission at $300 - $500 million.

If that was the cost for that mission, it would be worth it considering JWST cost about 20x that amount.

You are considering the entire cost of developing the JWST. Surely the cost of building another based on the finished design would be lower.

I think part of the reason the JWST took so long to build was the complexity of the design. As in, it was difficult to manufacture and assemble and test due to the way it was designed. It might be cheaper to do it a second time based on the lessons (avoiding mistakes) from the first, but it would probably still be quite expensive.

I wondered the same thing. I once read this commentary on project management (disguised as a StarWars fanfic)[1] which makes me pessimistic. However I'm in no way involved so I'd be curious to hear what someone more knowledgable thinks.

https://m.fanfiction.net/s/11685932/1/Instruments-of-Destruc...

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