[JumpCrisscross]

> With larger vehicles (e.g. Starship) the JWST mirror could have been built in one piece, which is much simpler

Not just the complexity of design, but also cost and complexity of cryo-vacuum testing hundreds of deployment mechanisms any one of whose failure critcially endangers the project. The mirror could also be conventionally manufactured versus requiring gold-plated beryllium [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_Telescope_Element

[m4rtink]

Not to mention it would be much cheaper and quicker to launch if it could have any form of robotic or human servicing/tuning available.

Designing it to not fail at the start & then work without any help for decades must have also made it much more expensive.