Are cylindrical reflector telescopes with software focus correction possible?

2 points

4 years ago

One of the most expensive and difficult to launch parts of the James Webb space telescope is the mirror. Parabolic mirrors are hard to produce and hard to assemble into larger reflectors with a single focal point.

Cylindrical mirrors, on the other hand, are easier to produce (can use a reciprocating polishing tool with a 2D parabolic profile). However, they can't produce a point focus as per this: https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/29853/are-cylindrical-mirror-telescopes-possible

Isn't image processing at a level of advancement now where we can place a linear array of sensors at the focal area of a cylindrical reflector and correct the optical aberrations in software? Can't we launch an entire array of such reflectors stacked on top of each other (similar to Starlink) and use a much simpler unfurling process in space to create larger, cheaper space telescopes?