At the beginning of 2007 the South Pole Telescope with a 10 m CFRP Back Up Structure made by Airborne is successfully installed at the pole within schedule. This system is the largest telescope ever deployed at the South Pole.

After leaving the Airborne Composites factory in The Netherlands, the composite structure was shipped by sea to Texas, USA for pre-installation with the overall antenna structure. The whole telescope was disassembled and air lifted to the South Pole station. In the pictures below the pre-assembly is show on the left and the final installation on the right.  

Airborne Composites is proud for having been part of this challenging project and would like to thank General Dynamics and in person the Program Manager Sergio Busetti for their trust in our company.

Click here for more technical information on the SPT and here for a picture gallery of the assembly at the Amudson-Scott South Pole Station.