An ISRO comparison seems a bit absurd given the hugely different scales of science and technology development being done. Much of the technology used in the JWS

An ISRO comparison seems a bit absurd given the hugely different scales of science and technology development being done. Much of the technology used in the JWST was practically invented for it. Not to imply that ISRO isn't doing important work, but simply looking to cut costs for the sake of cutting costs is just as bad as the waste you're complaining about. It'd be like comparing whatever it cost TSMC to switch to 3nm to what it cost to setup 20nm fabs. What we should be pushing for is more accurate cost estimates. It isn't a problem that the latest and greatest in space telescopes cost $11B, technological progress is often expensive, it's a problem that initially we were told it would cost $2B. If we have a better cost estimate from the start, we can better control our expectations.