I doubt the large space telescope programs will end, there will just be other options to how they're done. Scientists will still push the state of the art (if they get the funding) which will still be expensive and might still involve big mirrors here and there for optical imaging. Building a large fleet radio telescope in space actually sounds like a good proposal for massive R&D space telescope program.
Unfortunately optical interferometry as suggested isn't a thing yet. Even the physical optical interferometry we do on the ground has only become possible relatively recently. I'm not in the field so I'm not sure what's around the corner but seems to rule out Hubble/JWST/WFIRST/LUVOIRE replacements any time soon. Maybe TESS like scanning imaging would be a good fit for a fleet?
The big change I hope will be easier, cheaper, regular access to space which hopefully means there won't be such unicorn projects that spend 4 years in systems testing because they _can't_ fail.
> Tasking the fleet could be more dynamic as well, with different researchers able to reserve different percentages of a huge fleet for their specific experiments and needs
Specific observations require specific instruments though, there's no one size fits all fit out for a fleet satellite. JWST has a very large mirror looking a near and mid infra red a long way from earth with large IR shielding. You can't do this and Kepler/Tess type imagery in a single fleet unless the sats are specifically equipped for it on the ground before launch and sent to vastly different places which kind of nullifies a really dynamic fleet.
Not saying that having a standardised, cheap satellite bus that can be quickly thrown up in space won't change things, it's just not the answer to everything.
Unfortunately optical interferometry as suggested isn't a thing yet. Even the physical optical interferometry we do on the ground has only become possible relatively recently. I'm not in the field so I'm not sure what's around the corner but seems to rule out Hubble/JWST/WFIRST/LUVOIRE replacements any time soon. Maybe TESS like scanning imaging would be a good fit for a fleet?
The big change I hope will be easier, cheaper, regular access to space which hopefully means there won't be such unicorn projects that spend 4 years in systems testing because they _can't_ fail.
> Tasking the fleet could be more dynamic as well, with different researchers able to reserve different percentages of a huge fleet for their specific experiments and needs
Specific observations require specific instruments though, there's no one size fits all fit out for a fleet satellite. JWST has a very large mirror looking a near and mid infra red a long way from earth with large IR shielding. You can't do this and Kepler/Tess type imagery in a single fleet unless the sats are specifically equipped for it on the ground before launch and sent to vastly different places which kind of nullifies a really dynamic fleet.
Not saying that having a standardised, cheap satellite bus that can be quickly thrown up in space won't change things, it's just not the answer to everything.