NASA has identified deep-space optical communications as one of the key technologies to enable rapid data return from high-data-rate science instruments on probes exploring the solar system. The JPL Optical Communications Telescope Laboratory (OCTL) telescope was built by Brashear and is a research and development instrument for exploring several of the challenges associated with the deployment and operation of an optical transceiver facility for deep-space optical communications. The telescope is designed to track objects from deep space down to a 250-km altitude with a 6-deg key hole—an excluded tracking zone near zenith. Its magnitude is a function of the target satellite’s altitude. It consists of a 1-m F/75.8 main telescope with a 500-µrad field of view and a 0.2-m acquisition telescope having a 5.24-mrad (0.3 deg) field of view. Among the key requirements of the OCTL telescope are (1) operation down to 10 deg of the sun, (2) blind pointing to better than 3 arcseconds after mount calibration, and (3) tracking a target under 50-km/h wind loading. Designed as a communications instrument for the near-infrared 1064-nm and 1550-nm wavelengths, the telescope coatings are highly reflective over the range from 500 nm to 2000 nm. The measured residual wave-front error of the telescope as installed is λ/7 root-mean-square at 633 nm.