RFI Supply of the optical elements for the Phasing and Diagnostic Station (PDS) of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT)

The PDS (Phasing and Diagnostic Station) , will be installed in the Prefocal Station of the next generation Telescope developed by ESO – the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) – that includes a 39m segmented primary mirror (M1). The ELT is located in the Antofagasta Region in northern Chile, 120 km from Antofagasta city and 20 km from ESO’s Paranal Observatory. The PDS is the tool that helps to commission the telescope in terms of wavefront control and telescope verification and its functions span from phasing the segmented M1 to telescope diagnostics and verification tasks, using various wavefront and phasing sensors in order to ensure the telescope performances throughout its lifetime, currently set to 30 years (goal: 50 years).