• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.74-83
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• 2022

The entire process, from the raw material to the final system qualification test, has been developed to fabricate a large-diameter, lightweight reflective-telescope system for a satellite observation. The telescope with 3 anastigmatic mirrors has an aperture of 700 mm and a total mass of 66 kg. We baked a silicon carbide substrate body from a carbon preform using a reaction sintering method, and tested the structural and chemical properties, surface conditions, and crystal structure of the body. We developed the polishing and coating methods considering the mechanical and chemical properties of the silicon carbide (SiC) body, and we utilized a chemical-vapor-deposition method to deposit a dense SiC thin film more than 170 ㎛ thick on the mirror's surface, to preserve a highly reflective surface with excellent optical performance. After we made the SiC mirrors, we measured the wave-front error for various optical fields by assembling and aligning three mirrors and support structures. We conducted major space-environment tests for the components and final assembly by temperature-cycling tests and vibration-shock tests, in accordance with the qualifications for the space and launch environment. We confirmed that the final telescope achieves all of the target performance criteria.