Yes, though I guess it depends on what you mean by lots: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_optical_reflec.... Critically the 30+m monsters under construction have only recently become feasible on the Earh let alone in space, and much smaller instruments still provide significant value today.
There’s a much longer list of large radio based telescopes which have minimal advantages in space to the point where we haven’t launched any, and they are also negatively impacted by constellations. Also, several types of observations don’t really benefit from being in space. If you want to track killer asteroids space doesn’t provide much advantage even if you could get there for 100$/kg.
IMO the issue here isn’t satellites, it’s that they can harm multi billion dollar investments at zero cost to themselves. If you’re very clearly causing 10’s of millions in damages you really should be compensating the people affected.
> There’s a much longer list of large radio based telescopes which have minimal advantages in space to the point where we haven’t launched any
What if they could be put behind the Moon, completely shielding them from Earth RF emissions? It's been a cost-prohibitive idea now, but might not be for much longer.
The largest filled-aperture radio telescope in the world has a 500-meter diameter, and reportedly only cost $180 million. For comparison, the International Space Station costs $3 billion per year just to operate. Doing stuff in space is expensive.
For large (>10m) telescopes, it doesn't matter much, because no one is building rockets with big enough fairings. Even if the cost of launching to LEO was $0, in-orbit unfolding/assembly is a bottomless hole of engineering complexity that you cannot avoid. Again, see JWST/ISS.
There’s a much longer list of large radio based telescopes which have minimal advantages in space to the point where we haven’t launched any, and they are also negatively impacted by constellations. Also, several types of observations don’t really benefit from being in space. If you want to track killer asteroids space doesn’t provide much advantage even if you could get there for 100$/kg.
IMO the issue here isn’t satellites, it’s that they can harm multi billion dollar investments at zero cost to themselves. If you’re very clearly causing 10’s of millions in damages you really should be compensating the people affected.