An active optics system for large UVOIR space telescopes

The next generation of large monolithic mirror space telescopes will use aberration correction to ensure resolution performance is maintained throughout their mission. This is due to the use of ever thinner and lighter primary mirrors, which are susceptible to deformation due to a range of effects such as mechanical stress and thermal changes. In this work, we outline our space-telescope design and its corresponding active optics system to correct for these aberrations. We also describe our laboratory system for testing the wavefront sensing and aberration correction capabilities of the active optics components, along with some preliminary experimental results.