on an optimist note, the ELT is set to be ready for 2027 and capture 250 times more light than Hubble and for a claimed final sharpness increase of X16! It is a

on an optimist note, the ELT is set to be ready for 2027 and capture 250 times more light than Hubble and for a claimed final sharpness increase of X16! It is a ground based next gen segmented telescope and has a very low cost (1.5 billion). Also the tragically overlooked solution is airborne/dirigeable optical astronomy. It already exist for infrared and capture 85% of light (where space is 100%) unfortunately it has been underfunded and the mirror aboard the airplane is only 2 meter. With the Antonov, one could easily and cheaply bring a regular 8.4 meter mirror near space and capture the world for the first time, with a disruptive, god-like accuracy, and indeed being on the ballpark of a ground based 100 meter telescope, according to transposable claims, it would allow for the first time to optically discriminate the chemical compositions of the atmosphere of exoplanets and therefore trivially prove or disprove the presence of extraterrestrial life in an industrial scale manner, by the mere detection of biosignatures, such as e.g. oxygem, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-225_Mriya#/media/File:Antonov_An-225_with_Soviet_space_shuttle_Buran_on_top.jpeg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonov_An-225_Mriya#/media/Fi... (space was much cooler before) It's a shame the antonov got destroyed during the ukrainian war. although there are probably other transport solution. The real shame is that no one in command has realized this was the solution the world needs.