It is not just the cost of rockets holding us back, if we are going to do it right and safely we will be years in sending robots there to make it ready for people.
With current limitation in AI and robotics, sending robots is not really good use of resources. They are inflexible and if something broke, it may be difficult to fix on the spot. Don't forget that teleoperation from Earth takes minutes, and by then, situation would have changed entirely.
You're better off sending a shit ton of materials to Mars, with many redundancies so that a colonist can survive for years without going home, until the next resupply point.
Teleoperation with the colonist nearby is a good idea though.
To get anything started you are already talking 30+ years in the future. Why would you plan based on current limitations in AI and robotics? Better is coming.
With current limitation in AI and robotics, sending robots is not really good use of resources. They are inflexible and if something broke, it may be difficult to fix on the spot. Don't forget that teleoperation from Earth takes minutes, and by then, situation would have changed entirely.
You're better off sending a shit ton of materials to Mars, with many redundancies so that a colonist can survive for years without going home, until the next resupply point.
Teleoperation with the colonist nearby is a good idea though.