  We present program objectives and specifications for the first generation
Ultra-Fast Astronomy (UFA) observatory which will explore a new astrophysical
phase space by characterizing the variability of the optical (320 nm - 650 nm)
sky in the millisecond to nanosecond timescales. One of the first objectives of
the UFA observatory will be to search for optical counterparts to fast radio
bursts (FRB) that can be used to identify the origins of FRB and probe the
epoch of reionization and baryonic matter in the interstellar and intergalactic
mediums. The UFA camera will consist of two single-photon resolution
fast-response detector 16x16 arrays operated in coincidence mounted on the 0.7
meter Nazarbayev University Transient Telescope at the Assy-Turgen
Astrophysical Observatory (NUTTelA-TAO) located near Almaty, Kazakhstan. We are
currently developing two readout systems that can measure down to the
microsecond and nanosecond timescales and characterizing two silicon
photomultipliers (SiPM) and one photomultiplier tube (PMT) to compare the
detectors for the UFA observatory and astrophysical observations in general.
