Radioastron (Spectr-R Project)—a radio telescope much larger than the earth: main parameters and prelaunch tests

The Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Federal Space Agency are planning to launch Radioastron in 2011, which is a unique space observatory with a 10-meter reflector antenna. In conjunction with the largest ground-based radio telescopes and tracking stations, it forms the first system that will be able to carry out studies with a resolution millions of times greater than that of eyesight.