iSAT

Cost and Performance Modeling of On-orbit Assembleable Space Telescopes

Project Info

Project Description

Space telescopes have traditionally been monolithic (a single, rigid system) or deployable (e.g. James Webb). However, telescopes comprised of smaller pieces that can be assembled on-orbit may be able to surpass traditional limits on primary mirror diameter while remaining cost efficient with potentially massive gains in performance. This study is developing cost and performance models for a newly proposed assembleable space telescope system in order to better understand the value of this new mission architecture, and to optimize its performance.