>how does it look with launch cost removed from the equation?
The Webb Space Telescope cost $10 billion, and has a 6.5 meter mirror. With the launch cost removed, it cost $9.5 billion.
The Extremely Large Telescope is located on Earth, costs a little over $1 billion, and has a 39 meter mirror.
The idea of completely replacing ground observatories with orbital ones is so infeasible it's not really worth discussing. If satellite pollution grows so extreme they can no longer function, those capabilities will simply be lost.
The Webb Space Telescope cost $10 billion, and has a 6.5 meter mirror. With the launch cost removed, it cost $9.5 billion.
The Extremely Large Telescope is located on Earth, costs a little over $1 billion, and has a 39 meter mirror.
The idea of completely replacing ground observatories with orbital ones is so infeasible it's not really worth discussing. If satellite pollution grows so extreme they can no longer function, those capabilities will simply be lost.