Electro Optic Systems buys kiwi telescope lens manufacturer

Space and defence systems manufacturer Electro Optic Systems has entered into an agreement with Callaghan Innovation to acquire the assets and hire the personnel of KiwiStar Optics (KSO).

KSO produces precision optics including telescope lenses more than one metre in diameter and spectrographs.

Other optics produced include mirrors, prisms, filters, cameras, image slicers and turn-key instrumentation for spectrographs, telescopes and other devices.

The company’s solutions are used internationally, including lenses for a United States Navy navigation system and a camera for a proton radiography experiment at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the US.

EOS will make a significant investment in KSO to protect and grow its technologies.

EOS itself is an established supplier of telescopes and observatory systems and manufactures state of the art alt-az telescopes.

EOS telescopes are in service in Australia, the United States, Thailand, Japan, India and Saudi Arabia.

KSO has a small workforce who are highly trained in precision optics, with educational backgrounds in engineering, physics, mathematics, astronomy and optics.

EOS has been a major customer of KSO for many years, and EOS sees an opportunity to leverage its own global network to expand KSO’s marketing and distribution reach.

EOS is also investing to add further capability to KSO through an investment in new state-of-the-art optical equipment via the asset purchase of Arizona Optical Services, a world leader in the manufacture of large aspheric optics.

This will augment the existing equipment and skill base of the KSO team.

Picture: Electro Optic Systems

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