Space Surveillance Telescope

The Space Surveillance Telescope is a reflecting telescope with an aperture of 3.5 m and a field of view of 3.5 °. The telescope was designed by DARPA for the observation of satellites, space debris and other near-Earth objects and went into operation in early 2011. First Light was on February 15, 2011.Das telescope is located on the " White Sands Missile Range " in the State of New Mexico; the development cost 110 mil. U.S. dollar. By 2016, the telescope will be transported to Western Australia and go to the naval radio station Harold E. Holt as part of the Space Surveillance Networks in operation.

The telescope is constructed with three mirrors whose arrangement is referred to as Paul Baker, Paul Willstrop or Mersenne - Schmidt; the mirrors follows a mehrlinsiger corrector. In its structure is similar to the telescope the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, but has correspondingly shaped to curvature of CCD image sensors.

Interior view of the telescope: corrector lenses and CCD sensors

Credentials

  • New Mexico
  • Hard floor observatory
  • Large Telescope ( optical range)
Computer-aided design First light (astronomy) Naval Communication Station Harold E. Holt United States Space Surveillance Network
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