China and the UK begin on-orbit telescope assembly project

Image courtesy of CIOMP

On 24 October 2017, China and the UK launched the The Ultra-Large Aperture On-Orbit Assembly Project, which will work towards on-orbit assembly of a jointly-developed space telescope.

Led by the China’s Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP) and the UK’s University of Surrey (UoS), the project will develop a 10m level aperture space telescope for a range of scientific applications. The two institutions will also design the key technologies needed for on-orbit assembly, including robotics and telescope automation.

The project is the outcome of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by between CIOMP and UoS in September 2016, and will be the first collaboration between the two. The partnership also aims to found an “On-orbit Assembly International Science Organization” (OAISO), to help promote and develop future international space missions and the technologies required.

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Shortly after the launch of project, UoS announced the setting up of a Future AI and Robotics for Space (FAIR-SPACE) Hub funded by “a £6.7 million grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the UK Space Agency (UKSA), as well as £22.3 million from over twenty space organisations”, but did not name the organisations.

At the same time, China has also announced the development of a new space telescope to study high energy light emitted by gravitational waves, planned for launch in 2020.

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