Rapid Fabrication of High Stability Optical Mirror Blanks

Soter Technology is pleased to offer NASA a new technology for manufacturing diffraction limited visible telescope mirror blanks. This technology can support both symmetric primary mirrors and off-axis segments for segmented telescopes. The recurring fabrication cost and cycle time for these mirrors is quite low, once nonrecurring equipment (e.g. the optical test set) has been completed. For example, a 0.25 m diameter mirror with >2 KHz first mode and 19.5 kg/m2 would be fabricated in 350 Hz first mode at 21 kg/m2 would be completed in 1 m) depends strongly on the stiffness requirements, because stiffness drives overall mirror volume. Fabrication costs for the blank and polishing are expected to be between $0.3M/m2 and $0.4 M/m2 for sizes up to 1 m, and 400 Hz first mode, 10 nm RMS surface, and has <5 nm RMS midspatial frequency errors.