And then...
On the long term, we are moving towards smaller and smaller sensor matrices with smaller and smaller pixels... but the laws of optics and particularly the law of diffraction, will call us to order when pixel size will approximate the limit of visible wavelength. In this context, it is possible to endlessly increase the sensor resolution... without changing the optics format (Philips sensor, \(8000\times 9000\text{ pixels}\) measures \(11\text{ cm}\) by \(9\text{ cm}\)).
Some projects of giant matrices, resulting from the association of large focal sensors (Focal Plane Arrays) are already used in astronomy. So, we have projects such as SNAP(Supernovae Acceleration Probe) of \(440\text{ Megapixels}\) (\(35\times 4k\times 4k\)) or LSST (Large Synoptic Survey Telescope) of \(3.2\text{ Gigapixels}\) (\(200\times 4k\times 4k\)).
Finally, one last solution consists in stitching in gigapanoramique, by correlating the edges, high resolution photographs from a scanning of the area to be imaged...