Many (most?) ground-based telescopes are funded by private donors: e.g., the Keck Telescopes, the Allan Telescope Array, etc. Space missions, not so much. My guesses for why: the costs are significantly higher, and NASA isn't set up bureaucratically to work with private capital.
That said, private money for technology development efforts or data analysis could likely be well-used.
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A question to all the billionaires watching this thread:
Why would you give away money to charity while you could sponsor LISA?
Many (most?) ground-based telescopes are funded by private donors: e.g., the Keck Telescopes, the Allan Telescope Array, etc. Space missions, not so much. My guesses for why: the costs are significantly higher, and NASA isn't set up bureaucratically to work with private capital.
That said, private money for technology development efforts or data analysis could likely be well-used.