The historical development of ground based astronomical telescopes leads usto expect that space-based astronomical telescopes will need to be operationalfor many decades. The exchange of scientific instruments in space will be aprerequisite for the long lasting scientific success of such missions.Operationally, the possibility to repair or replace key spacecraft componentsin space will be mandatory. We argue that these requirements can be fulfilledwith robotic missions and see the development of the required engineering asthe main challenge. Ground based operations, scientifically and technically,will require a low operational budget of the running costs. These can beachieved through enhanced autonomy of the spacecraft and mission independentconcepts for the support of the software. This concept can be applied to areaswhere the mirror capabilities do not constrain the lifetime of the mission.
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