Maui Space Surveillance Complex

It was first proposed by R. Zirkind of ARPA's staff for imaging ballistic missile payloads and decoys during their midcourse phase, and other space objects including satellites, in the infrared spectrum, as well as for performing astronomical research.

[5] The AMOS effort formally began with an amendment to an existing ARPA order with the University of Michigan's Institute for Science and Technology, which was to design, construct, and operate the facility.

The University of Michigan was replaced by industrial contractors, and numerous system improvements and additions then took place over subsequent years.

[4] The accessibility and capability of the Maui Space Surveillance System provides an unequaled opportunity to the scientific community by combining state-of-the-art satellite tracking with a facility supporting research and development.

The Maui Space Surveillance System, is routinely involved in numerous observing programs and has the capability of projecting lasers into the atmosphere.

AEOS can be used simultaneously by many groups or institutions because its light can be channeled through a series of mirrors to seven independent Coudé focus rooms below the telescope.

AEOS is equipped with an adaptive optics system, the heart of which is a 941-actuator deformable mirror that can change its shape to remove the atmosphere's distorting effects.

A Remote Maui Experimental (RME) site at sea level houses additional optics and electronics laboratories.