Harris has built and delivered a 3,500-pound mirror the National Science Foundation will integrate with a ground-based observatory designed to identify new solar systems and potentially hazardous asteroids.
The company said Monday it shipped the secondary mirror for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope and will also provide associated ground support equipment and cell assembly components for LSST.
An NSF-led team that includes Harris will assemble the observatory on Chile’s Cerro Pachon ridge in an effort to help scientists capture at least 800 panoramic images across the entire sky at night.
Once complete, the telescope will perform a decade-long survey of the visible areas of the universe and support the study of dark matter and dark energy.
The company noted LSST is scheduled to be operational by 2022.