Air Force officials noted that the Air Force vision for global-energy projection of low-power lasers for remote surveillance or for high-power space-based lasers is not achievable without the development of lightweight deployable optical systems made possible by this program. These applications will require mirrors ranging from 16 to 52 feet in diameter.

For comparison, the Hubble telescope mirror is 7 feet, 9 inches (2.4 meters) across. The next generation mirrors are intended to be many times larger.

In order to launch these new large mirrors into space economically, they need to be much lighter -- from the current Hubble weight of about 50 pounds per square foot to less than 3 pounds per square foot.

Also, to fit inside current launch vehicles, the complete mirror needs to be made of smaller segments that can be assembled automatically in space.

"The Air Force is excited about developing a new generation of lightweight optics for space applications," said Dr. Earl Good, director of the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate.

"We believe our partnership with the National Reconnaissance Office and NASA is a great opportunity to leverage our technology dollars on a path of great mutual interest that will revolutionize space optical systems in the 21st century," added Christine Anderson, director of the laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate.

The work is being done under the Advanced Mirror System Demonstrator program. Under the program, research contracts will be issued in three phases from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

In phase one, between five and seven awards, estimated at $300,000 each, will be made to develop mirror designs. In phase two, three to five vendors will be selected to develop a prototype mirror segment called a "petal."

These awards are estimated to be about $2.7 million to $3.7 million each. If phase three is implemented, NASA will add money to the program and one contractor will be selected to build the flight petals for a next-generation space mirror. However, this phase may be combined with the prime contract to build the next generation space telescope.

Phase one contracts will be issued on May 1 and are estimated to last four months, while phase two will take about 20 months to complete.