Starfield's lead quest designer had 'absolutely no time' and had to hit the 'panic button' so the game would have a satisfying final quest
www.pcgamer.com
"It became very clear that we were missing the large final location that was going to tie the story together," says former lead quest designer Will Shen.

““We were finally at a state in the project where we could play through the whole [game]. And it became very clear that we were missing the large final location that was going to tie the story together and have a satisfying action-filled payoff,” Shen said. “I was both implementing the main quest and leading the quest design team, so I had absolutely no time. The entire quest design team was already overbooked.””

The quest design team being overbooked and not having time certainly explains a lot.