Progress in the Studies on the Space Telescope Mission of Aperture Synthesis in the Service d'aéronomie of France

This paper describes the space telescope mission of aperture synthesis in the Service d'Aéronomie of France which began in 1989, including its background, scientific objectives, and payloads.The breadboard for the SOLARNET is illustrated in detail and some preliminary images of a laser diode and a white-light point source are presented.These images show that the entire breadboard can achieve a high phase-control precision (—small piston errors).Finally, we give some suggestions for improvement, such as adjustments of pupil positions and proper tracking of the sun (as on the declination axis an uncompensated drift affects the system) to improve fine pointing control.These explorations of the aperture synthesis experiment of the Service d'Aéronomie should provide useful references to further research on such a subject in China