The optical performance test of lightweight primary mirror of space Cassegrain telescope

The Remote sensing instrument ( RSI ) under developing is a Cassegrain telescope with clear aperture of 450 mm. In order to meet specifications for thermal distortion, self-weight deformation of the mirror and weight budget of the system, the primary mirror has been lightweighted at the ratio about 50 % with hexagon cell structures from a Zerodur blank. For this mid-large lightweight mirror, the optical performance test is challenging during both the manufacture and assembly phases. While in the optical measurement, there are some unexpected errors caused erroneous judgments for the mirror induced by the external force or environmental deviation. For example, it’s difficult to specify the measured astigmatism caused from the form error after polishing or surface deformation by the external force from the supporter or mechanical mount. In this paper, the optical performance test called bench test to get the absolute measurement result for the lightweight mirror is presented. After measurement, a novel algorithm is adopted to analyze the astigmatism caused from the gravity effect and form error from manufacture and the deformation from the mounting or supporter. Also, the measurements with different supporter compared with vertical and horizontal setup are compared in the end of this article.