Session
Poster Session 3
Location
Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Abstract
Space has become increasingly more contested over the last decade, with the proliferation of satellites and space assets that require new levels of Space Domain Awareness (SDA). Space is often described by the US Government as the next warfighting domain. Control, understanding and dominance over this vast domain requires exquisite and complex optomechanical systems.
Lawrence Livermore National Lab’s Space Science and Security Program (SSSP) has developed unique monolithic optics, which are ground-aligned during manufacturing and are nearly athermal. These qualities greatly reduce the complexity of the optical payload when compared to legacy telescope designs. Monolithic optics deliver excellent imaging capabilities, despite their compact volume. LLNL’s Space Program has demonstrated optics in orbits ranging from 1-inch to 10-inch apertures successfully, as shown in Figure 1 below. Cost-effective, larger optics require advances in optical manufacturing to drive down tool time and labor cost.
Document Type
Event
Included in
Manufacturing Advances for Cost Effective, Large Aperture Monolithic Telescopes
Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, UT
Space has become increasingly more contested over the last decade, with the proliferation of satellites and space assets that require new levels of Space Domain Awareness (SDA). Space is often described by the US Government as the next warfighting domain. Control, understanding and dominance over this vast domain requires exquisite and complex optomechanical systems.
Lawrence Livermore National Lab’s Space Science and Security Program (SSSP) has developed unique monolithic optics, which are ground-aligned during manufacturing and are nearly athermal. These qualities greatly reduce the complexity of the optical payload when compared to legacy telescope designs. Monolithic optics deliver excellent imaging capabilities, despite their compact volume. LLNL’s Space Program has demonstrated optics in orbits ranging from 1-inch to 10-inch apertures successfully, as shown in Figure 1 below. Cost-effective, larger optics require advances in optical manufacturing to drive down tool time and labor cost.
