[shard]

Do you put off buying electronics knowing that next year's product will be faster than this year's? At some point you just got to say, screw it, I'd rather do this now instead of waiting for some hypothetical future where the cost-benefit ratio is at its highest.

[AstralStorm]

Additionally, why do you expect the old ship cannot be retrofitted or replaced and travel sped up incrementally?

It should be easy to find a hot broadcasting object in space and rendezvous with it. The crew might face some future shock.