While bureaucracies do not lightly give up title to assets, one solution is for title to transfer once the primary mission is accomplished. Perhaps a better solution would be to move to a data purchase program where the agent of exploration is in private hands. There is already some movement within NASA and academic centers toward this end. Companies such as SpaceDev are providing an alternative to exploration by bureaucracy. With title to explorers in the commercial sector, scientists at NASA and elsewhere would only pay for data generated.
Private ventures can assume greater risk and thereby greatly reduce their costs.
Safety is managed and engineered, but is not dominant. Dropping a functional Observatory from orbit is bad business. Instead, solutions would be explored that would result in continued operation of the facility and continued cash flow.