If mass reduction is no longer super critical, you can use heavier but cheaper materials that provide the needed strength. There could be other knock off effec

If mass reduction is no longer super critical, you can use heavier but cheaper materials that provide the needed strength. There could be other knock off effect of cheaper and more frequent space launch - you can send multiple versions and see which works the best, ship prototypes back for extensive evaluation, send robots or people to fix broken things. A lot of things are done differently if you have just a couple super expensive shots per decade & everything needs to work without external help at the first time.