[rbanffy]

> Herschel is cryogenic so can't last anyway.

Couldn't we ship a load of coolant?

> there is no way you are servicing something at the Lagrange point.

It depends on what Lagrange point we are talking about. It can be easier than a trip to the Moon or more or less like a trip to Mars. Anyway, you could tow it to a service orbit humans can reach and then boost it back to its original (or any other convenient) orbit. Herschel is pretty far to receive a human crew, but it can be towed to a more manageable orbit.

I like the idea of cheap satellites with high commonality, but I also like being able to upgrade and repurpose them. After all, the worst part of the work - launching them - was already done, and the cheaper each satellite gets, the more the launch weights in its overall costs.

[uikjhgyujmn]

Not allowed to fly cryogens on the shuttle as a safety feature. You also aren't allowed to carry propellant or use propellant on serviceable satellites, that was one of the design problems with the HST + shuttle.

It's not a shuttle specific thing it's the problem of anything man rated - you can't put anything dangerous onboard.

[rbanffy]

Then the shuttle is the problem. It's like saying crossing the river is impossible because you are required to use a school bus as a vehicle.