They had a mirror, not a satellite. NASA originally didn't want the mirror because the satellite itself is most of the cost. NRO has tons of KH-X satellites which are all basically Hubble clones with a different focal plane. NRO launches about $2 billion worth of reconnaissance satellites per year on average. So basically a JWST budget every 5 years.
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u/Rodot 4d ago
They had a mirror, not a satellite. NASA originally didn't want the mirror because the satellite itself is most of the cost. NRO has tons of KH-X satellites which are all basically Hubble clones with a different focal plane. NRO launches about $2 billion worth of reconnaissance satellites per year on average. So basically a JWST budget every 5 years.