A new high power telescope has been nominated by the US National Research Council (NRC) as the highest priority project in future astronomical research using spacecraft. NASA's Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) will have 100 times the sensitivity and 10 times the image sharpness of the Hubble Space Telescope. TRW, with Ball Aerospace, and Lockheed Martin are working on designs of the NGST (TRW/Ball's design is pictured). Another space project listed as a priority is the proposed Constellation X-Observatory, a four-spacecraft fleet of telescopes similar to the Chandra craft now in orbit, which will study black hole formation.
Source: Flight International
