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When it launches in 2018, the James Webb Space Telescope will let us see deeper into the universe than ever before. Its enormous eye is centered around 18 octagonal mirrors which assemble to form the largest telescope mirror ever built, but someday even the James Webb Telescope (formerly the Next-Gen Space Telescope) will outlive its usefulness — and then what will we do? The obvious answer is to launch an even more advanced telescope, one with an even bigger mirror that can focus on even more distant or difficult light. There’s just one problem: given the costs and practical barriers to launching objects into space, it’s very possible that in this case simply going bigger may be impossible.

That’s where DARPA comes in. The agency has always liked playing smarter — rather than harder — and has a stated goal of allowing its government to view any point on the planet, instantly and in real-time. That being the case, they needed to develop a way of launching surveillance satellites much more cheaply. DARPA has looked into everything from satellite miniaturization to Hyperloop style drone throwers, but a satellite’s mirror is the hardest part to launch in most cases. In a move sure to excite cash-strapped astronomers and terrify nervous libertarians, DARPA now says it could have a way around that problem, making high-fidelity space cameras much quicker and cheaper to launch.

View the video below for a quick artist’s rendering.

Called MOIRE, or Membrane Optical Imager for Real-Time Exploitation, the project looks to replace one of the heaviest and most troublesome elements in astronomy. Rather than using enormous mirrors or thick, dense lenses to reflect or refract the light into a collector, MOIRE uses membranes about as thick as kitchen plastic wrap to diffract light onto the satellite’s collector. MOIRE will launch in a compact state, its version of a mirror mounted on the front in the form of folded, concentric “petals” of this membrane. When the mission reaches its destination, these petals will unfold into huge sails, providing a focusing element larger than any mirror could realistically be. A MOIRA satellite launched at 6.5 meters in diameter, roughly the size of the James Webb mirror, could unfurl to a diameter of more than 21 meters.

darpa membraneThat’s a big deal, since the diameter of  a telescope’s focusing device determines its maximum resolution. If you want to look into the very beginnings of the universe or into its most elusive and subtle elements, you need a big mirror, or at least a mirror analog. If you want to view close-up video of a spot on Earth roughly 35,000 kilometers below, you need a big mirror, too.

These membranes aren’t just physically smaller and lighter than mirrors and lenses, they’re also flexible and easier to protect. It’s all well and good to make a seven-meter mirror milled with nanometer precision, but its quality means nothing if it comes into contact with dust, or if it shatters on the way to space. By using a flexible membrane capable of taking even violent shaking with ease, these DARPA researchers hope to address both the fuel and protection costs associated with large space mirrors. These membrane leaves would require little to none of NASA’s current egg-drop paranoia about launch packaging.

Diffraction can dramatically affect the path of a light wave using only a thin obstacle.


This membrane works via the process of diffraction, or the redirection of light around an obstacle. Rather than bouncing light like a mirror or bending it through different media like a lens, this membrane uses specially placed obstacles etched into its surface like the grooves on a record to redirect light rays. This makes it a thin-film version of an ancient idea, the Fresnel lens, which also lets lenses affect the path of light while remaining thin and light. Microscopically etching that idea into the surface of a membrane will, DAPRA hopes, bring the concept new life.

There’s no word on the costs of actually manufacturing the membrane, but since its primary functional element is the etching rather than the material itself, this could bring down the costs of satellite manufacturing, as well. Independent teams are already launching small satellites; what if those small satellites could carry a membrane of a size with Hubble’s mirror? More to the point, if a team of enthusiasts could do that with a few hundred thousand dollars, what could a national space agency do with a few hundred million? What could DARPA do with several billion, or its military masters with even more?

Now read: Confronting society’s absurd enthusiasm for DARPA’s murdering “mad science”

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  • standard

    Anyone else find where the ‘allow total global surveillance’ in the title is elaborated on?

    • Write In Vote


      The power of many Hubbles aimed at earth. I would like to see more in the article expressly stating what it could see.

      • Heath Parsons

        I want to know where DARPA can get several billion? The US is broke with a huge debt. I doubt they’ll see a few billion.

        • nightfend

          The Military budget is massive and rarely gets cut by much. We just run into more debt paying for all the military crap.

        • nightfend


        • Techutante

          The budget for DARPA isn’t even entirely on the books it’s so huge and obfuscated. The US is so far from broke it’s not even funny. Debt is not = broke.

        • mori bund

          No matter how broke the US is – there’s always enough money for the military-industrial complex.
          Right now the US is military budget is around 700 billion $ a year.
          (of course there is not enough money for science-projects like NASA, education, poverty and other non-important issues…)

        • ChairmanMauzer

          The US spends more on its military than the next 19 – 20 countries combined and almost 3.5 as much as the next closest country.

          They’ll find a way if they want to.

        • Patty Brown

          The United States is hardly broke. The money just isn’t distributed correctly.

      • Heath Parsons


  • Heath Parsons

    DARPA has its usefulness and has sparked revolutions in communication. It does freak me out a little bit knowing something as big as my car can see me in real time from space, and be owned by a government. By that very nature, it will end up being misused if it has the capability for surveillance or control. I think the telescopes have a bit more purpose seeking astrophysics material than watching me labor away. I’m anxious to see how this relatively inexpensive membrane would do versus a huge mirror array.

    • Techutante

      They’ve been able to read a license plate from orbit since the 90s. Your paranoia is a bit late.

  • Dozerman

    If you’re trying to spy on someone, wouldn’t something this big be a bit of an issue? I know China and Russia (and by association, North Korea) have radar powerful enough to detect satellites and the means to counter them. This only makes it easier to detect them. Is it really worth it if the people you are trying to watch know that you’re there?

    • Techutante

      “Oh sorry, you can’t really tell, but we were looking NEXT to your country.”

      • Dozerman

        “Oh, sorry, you couldn’t really tell, but our rocket was aimed at the satellite *next* to yours. “

  • ScoobiJohn

    real time google earth!!

    • standard

      do want!!

  • MadisonHJ

    Considering the government just spent 650 million on a non-functioning healthcare web site, I expect them to accomplish NOTHING with a few hundred million.

    • Write In Vote

      Spying is #1 priority of government. Bunch of voyeuristic control freaks.

    • Heath Parsons

      Makes me wonder how the NSA is doing with their data collections, haha.

      • adamrussell

        Word is that they cut costs on equipment and they are having problems with overheating and short circuits – believe it or not.

    • Rachel Kolody

      In the grand scheme of things, this is more important to our empire than anything else. I would think this new array has more uses than just being a refractory membrane for a telescope. This new technology might also be able to be used as a military weapon. These membranes could be manufactured quickly and much cheaper and they could pack many of these in one cargo load to place strategically around our planet. There will be no place on our planet where the government could not see in detail in real-time. NO ONE will be able to hide ANYWHERE.

  • Jaded

    Interesting artist rendering. In space you can shed certain earth-constrained architectural issues. What if, you filled a massive clear “balloon”, say the size of a hot air balloon or maybe even many times larger, and “painted” the back side. Essentially you’re creating a big eyeball in space. Being a great gaseous bag, its shape could be easily manipulated. And since the collector need not be attached, but hover in whatever relative position, you could get some truly gigantic focal lengths. Can you say, all seeing eye?

  • VirtualMark

    This concept makes me excited! Hopefully we’ll be able to get optical images of exoplanets in the not too distant future, amazing.

  • MrMrMrMr

    And what if you can 3D print the membranes in space?

  • http://pislamonauseacentral.blogspot.se/ Morningstar

    The Great Eye is always watching!


  • Lordwhiteman

    Why build just one when we can build hundreds for hundreds the price.

  • adamrussell

    If you could launch pieces and have them assembled in space you could make it as big as you wanted. Then of course the question is how to prevent its being used as a weapon.

    • Dr. Jonzz

      If DARPA is working on it then that’s the intent of course.

  • phpdima

    Astronomers discover planet that shouldn’t be there

    The discovery of a giant planet orbiting its star at 650 times the
    average Earth-sun distance has astronomers puzzled over how such a
    strange system came to be.

    An international team of astronomers, led by a University of Arizona
    graduate student, has discovered the most distantly orbiting planet
    a planet outside of our solar system – discovered at the UA.

    Read More : http://www.avitimes.com/2013/12/07/astronomers-discover-planet-that-shouldnt-be-there/

  • Aspartame Boy

    won’t work. You need 1/4 wave precision, not a rag flapping around.

  • Thebes42

    As Americans die for lack of medical care, shelter, heat and food, our
    government continues to spend their money on new and unique ways to spy
    upon them.

    Orwell was apparently an optimist.

    • Jewy McJew

      We now has the longest lifespans and lowest malnutrition rate in human history.

      The main reason for this is due to enormous investments in technology and science. And for better or worse, the main reason we invest is for security.

      Not saying its a good thing… but it definitely has produced good things!

    • http://www.facebook.com/cees.timmerman Cees Timmerman

      This project doesn’t cost anywhere near what’s wasted on the “War on Drugs”:

      The U.S. federal government spent over $15 billion dollars in 2010 on the War on Drugs, at a rate of about $500 per second.

      State and local governments spent at least another 25 billion dollars.


  • PS

    If this membrane uses diffraction only for focusing, there will be severe chromatic aberration. How do they plan to deal with that?

  • Michael Vergara

    You need to check your facts a little better. Your first paragraph states that the JWST will have the largest mirror ever built. Wrong. There are larger mirrors both in segmented format (like JWST) and single-mirror format (like Hubble) in use world-wide. Yes, this will be the largest mirror “in space”, but that’s not what you said. Sorta made the rest of the article suspect to me.

  • Indigo Wizard

    So, when can I have a 3 meter, folding ‘scope for the back yard? Oh, and don’t forget the $69.95 price tag…..

  • Art Granda

    According to many of the astronauts who have been to space, there really isn’t anything to see there except an infinite black void in all directions. Listen to their recorded mission logs, to their debriefings, how they answer questions about what space was like to them personally, it’s astounding. Never did I hear any mention at all about what should be an infinite majesty of stars.

    Without anything to see, this telescope will probably be used like Hubble has been, to watch you and me.

    • Magnus Blomberg

      Well even though the astronauts were in space and had no atmosphare to interfer with the light of the stars they did not look through powerful telescopes all the time. To the naked eye not that many stars are visible even in space since they are far away and the light intensity is inversly proportional to the square of the distance to the source.

      I really hope you were just being sarcastic.

      • Art Granda

        Thank you Magnus. The inverse square law, I’m familiar with it from physics courses. The science is precisely as you say and I agree it works and is logical.

        However, I am not relying on physics to make these statements. I am relying on human behavior in the face of the fantastic for the first time. Seriously there are dozens and dozens of these examples in the audio archives of Nasa.

        To the human eye, the brightness of the stars from space should be, at least, as bright as the brightest night sky from the surface of the Earth. It’s been so bright here that I once played tennis successfully without added lights!, just the stars alone.

        I’m betting then that a human who looks out into an all-encompassing, fully 3D scene with stars everywhere would say something about all the stars … and not all the blackness between them.

  • Jane Smith

    Mistakes: As you can see from the illustration, the Web mirrors have six sides. That makes them hexagons, not octagons. And MOIRA should be spelled “MOIRE”. The orbital MOIRE illustration is pretty, but wrong.