Better, faster, cheaper: Recent SCHOTT ZERODUR facilities are game-changing for high performance lightweight mirrors

Abstract

Better" has always been a factor in selecting materials for spaceborne use. Increasingly, cost and delivery schedule are discriminating parameters, especially where constellations of satellites are to be implemented. Recent facilitization at SCHOTT guarantees not only rapid access to lightweight ZERODUR ® mirror blanks, even in the era of needing approaching 10 3 mirrors for the VLT, but also advanced multi-axis fabrication and metrology equipment enables generated optical surfaces with low form error and low sub-surface damage. This in turn may significantly reduce the time of optical fabrication and assembly. We see this as a vital step toward realizing Design-to-Cost paradigms, faster and cheaper high performance optical assemblies.