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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2016
The construction of very large telescopes is impeded by very large costs. Much effort is going into finding ways to get below the traditional cost-scaling trend line. We will address several factors that lead to reduction in cost without reduction in performance. Clearly, a very fast primary f-ratio is necessary. The practical lower limit is set by three factors:
1) width of the Nasmyth platform
2) new optical processing techniques
and 3) maintenance of collimation.