Architecting the Habitable Worlds Observatory for the 21st century

The field of space technology is rapidly changing as we enter the second quarter of the 21st century and enter the pre-formulation period for Habitable Worlds Observer (HWO). This rapid advancement in technologies and operating concepts can even be considered a revolution in our field. We will introduce the idea that this revolution also impacts considerations in the mission architecture of the HWO. The three space ages are defined along with their design paradigms and ethos. The challenge of designing a flagship mission such as HWO as a mission of the current space age is presented and we will show that some of the elements of the new space revolution can relax some of these constraints. Inclusion of these new technologies and concepts is not free, and we will examine how architecting for the new space age is different than for previous missions.