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Interview de Nicolas VEDRENNE, chargé de mission DOTA ONERA

 

Signature d'un accord de coopération sur la plateforme d’observation de l’Espace PROVIDENCE, entre l'ONERA et le CNRS

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The PROVIDENCE project

Logo Providence

By the end of 2023, ONERA has launched the PROVIDENCE project. Drawing on 30 years of expertise in High Angular Resolution and Space Domain Awareness, PROVIDENCE will be an ambitious optical research platform primarily dedicated to the observation of space (from our closest orbital environment to very distant galaxies).

The aim of the project is to develop, by the end 2028, a 2.5m adaptive telescope optimized for High Angular Resolution. Thanks to the support of CNRS/INSU, the installation site will be the Observatoire de Haute Provence (OHP).

The PROVIDENCE project targets dual applications, covering satellite and debris observation, astronomical observation, innovative instrumentation and cross-disciplinary issues around environmental and atmospheric characterization, laser focusing and optical telecoms (QKD and deep space communications).

 

 

Providence ONERA instrumentation

 

Collaborative by nature, this facility aims to bring together the maximum contribution from the French and European scientific community, to encourage innovative developments and provide a unique access to the sky in Europe for all the issues and themes mentioned above.

 

PROVIDENCE in a nutshell1

PROVIDENCE : Plateforme de Recherche en Optique, Vecteur d'Innovation pour la Défense sur la maîtrise et compréhension de l'ENvironnement et la Caractérisation des objets dans l'Espace (Optics research platform, a vector of innovation for defense: understanding the environment and characterizing objects in space)

The Telescope

  • 2.5m Adaptive Telescope (Alt-Az)  with and Adaptive secondary

  • Résolution : 41mas@0.5µm = 10cm@500km / 20cm@1000km

  • 10 to 20 arcmin FoV (including a 2 arcmin diffraction limited FoV)

  • Up to 5°/s tracking capablity (for LEO sat observation)

  • From 400 (goal 380) to 2200 nm bandwidth

  • Nasmyth and Coudé Focus

  • Compatible with LGS operation (Rayleigh and Sodium)

  • Toward a fully Robotic telescope

  • Compatible with monostatic power laser

     

The first light instrumentation

  • Multibands SCAO assisted short/long Exposure diffraction limited imager in the visible (0.45 --> 0.9 µm) - champ ~ 30” / 1’ .
  • GLAO assisted Mid-Res Spectrographe (R ~ 700) + wide field imager

 

The second generation instrumentation

  • eXtreme LTAO assisted High Contrast Imager (with spectroscopic capabilities)

All instrument proposals are welcome ! Please Contact T Fusco : thierry.fusco@onera.fr

 

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Provisional schedule

Preliminary studies

2020 - 2023
Site selection Nov 2023
Project KO Feb 2024
Completion of project TLR (Tel/AO/Instrum) Sep 2024
Telescope Call for Tender Jan 2025
AO+Instruments developement (in house) 2025 – 2027
Telescope Procurement 2026 – 2028
Project first light End 2028

 

2 The values are indicative and will need to be consolidated over the coming months.