>>11307951The comparison make little sense though.
If you're talking just about mass, then JWST weighs as a school bus (6 tons), which doesn't cost much, the technology is completely unrelated.
The structural mass of a small colony isn't bigger than a cruise ship, and the materials shouldn't be terribly sophisticated.
Most of the building mass should come from the moon or asteroids, of course we're not there yet, but there is no reason to think we won't be able to do that maybe in no more than a few decades.
Robotics in space is a big money saver and progress is already rapid.
If Starship delivers we will also have chepear access to space.
