Safran Electronics & Defense and Safran Reosc inaugurated a new factory in Poitiers, France, dedicated to manufacturing the M1 mirror segments for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). The facility uses advanced manufacturing technologies to produce 931 segments for the telescope, which is scheduled for first light in 2025.
Safran Reosc signed a contract with the European Southern Observatory to design and produce the M5 mirror for the Extremely Large Telescope. The mirror is a flat elliptical silicon carbide mirror measuring 2.70 by 2.20 meters.
Contracts were signed for the manufacture of the 39 m primary mirror of the European Southern Observatory's Extremely Large Telescope. Schott will produce blanks of the mirror segments, and Safran Reosc will polish, mount and test the 798 hexagonal segments.