Fortunately a large mirror doesn't have to be a continuous surface, and it doesn't need all of that area either.
A constellation of optically linked telescopes each with small mirrors would be able to image the same exoplanet.
Controlling the optical linkages or equivalently the trajectories precise and fast enough is difficult, but as far as I know this is not a fundamental limitation.
A constellation of optically linked telescopes each with small mirrors would be able to image the same exoplanet.
Controlling the optical linkages or equivalently the trajectories precise and fast enough is difficult, but as far as I know this is not a fundamental limitation.
What a fun project that would be to build!