How can we bring down the costs of large space telescopes? New research says they could be radically cheaper if their mission goals could be reconfigured to use off-the-shelf components.
How can we bring down the costs of large space telescopes? New research says they could be radically cheaper if their mission goals could be reconfigured to use off-the-shelf components.
We're all basking in the success of the James Webb Space Telescope. It's fulfilling its promise as our most powerful telescope, making all kinds of discoveries that we've been anticipating and hoping for. But the JWST's story is one of broken budgets, repeated requests for more time and money, and n...
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I don't know how much of a factor the cost of the components themselves were in the ballooning costs of the JWST, but if COTS could represent a major savings in cost without compromising the performance of the spacecraft and risking catastrophic equipment failure in the harsh environment of deep space, I'm all for it.