Development began in 1996 for a launch that was initially planned for 2007 and a 500-million-dollar budget. They have now spent 10 billion dollars on this. I do hope it works someday but this is a prime example of how Government screws up everything it touches.
The telescope has functions that had to be invented. The technology had to be most precise and that’s why the instrument costs so much. The infrared sensor system is so precise it will be able to detect a bumblebee from the distance of the earth to the moon. Its infrared sensors have to be cooled to -364 degrees F. Another instrument, the Mid Infrared Instrument has to be cooled to -446.8 degrees F. This entire system by itself costs a $Billion. The Beryllium mirrors must have cost of fortune due to the rare earth nature of Beryllium. The camera system and its cooling systems had to be invented (pumps, because they vibrate had to be designed not to vibrate). Its cost is a $Billion.
The 18 hexagonal mirrors had to be shaped to the nano meter. If one of them stretched over the entire U.S. it would only deviate 3 inches. Each mirror can be aligned by special actuators to the nano meter by computer. The entire array was engineered to fold to fit inside the launch vehicle.
The telescope has been completed and it is undergoing testing. Nothing before has been made as complicated as this instrument. Because it does not have the problems of viewing the images withing earth’s atmosphere, so it will get images much sharper than ever received, back into the history of the universe to the first light. Everything has to work perfectly so it does.