The goal is there mostly because humans like goals, but otherwise both space exploration and fusion are about the research happening *in the process.* ITER alone brings hundreds of discoveries in physics, materials, design, logistics etc each year, even though its declared goal is delayed by 5 years (but the current schedule of first plasma in 2025 is feasible).
History of fusion projects (such as ITER) is a good example of the fundamental difference between a scientific and engineering project. Fusion technology is there and we know how to do it for scientific research.
What is not there is sustainable net-added sustainable fusion, where we're not only doing the fusion in the lab but actually have an *economically* viable way of *producing* energy. As opposed to expensive way of consuming it, which most of the science projects do :)
