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I think you're getting downvoted because what you're saying doesn't match up with the wiki article you linked. The original estimate was for $1.6 billion, in I

I think you're getting downvoted because what you're saying doesn't match up with the wiki article you linked. The original estimate was for $1.6 billion, in I'm guessing the 90s, and the estimate had been updated to $5 billion by the time it was formally confirmed for construction. > The telescope was originally estimated to cost US$1.6 billion,[102] but the cost estimate grew throughout the early development and had reached about US$5 billion by the time the mission was formally confirmed for construction start in 2008. So yes, it has been over budget, but by 2x-3x, not 20x, and that isn't adjusted for inflation. Also, everything is just a money pit until it's launched/finished/etc.

tomschlick 5y ago
According to the budget table, when the project started in 1997, the budget plan was 500 million. Today its close to 10 billion.
- omgwtfbyobbq 5y ago
  That was likely just a bare bones estimate and closer to the costs of initiating the project than the full cost of designing, building, and launching a satellite. Based on this link, NASA hadn't even settled on a design/contractor in 1998. https://esahubble.org/images/opo9820a/ https://esahubble.org/images/opo9820a/
guerrilla 5y ago
Adjusted for inflation it'd be about $2.5 billion this year. So it's almost exactly 2x.