Technology Development for Future Sparse Aperture Telescopes and Interferometers in Space

We describe the major technology development efforts that need to occur throughout the 2010 decadein order to enable a wide variety of sparse aperture and interferometric missions in the following decade. These missions are critical to achieving the next major revolution in astronomical observations by dramatically increasing the achievable angular resolutionby more than 2 orders of magnitude, over wavelengths stretching from the x-ray and ultraviolet into the infrared and sub-mm. These observations can only be provided by long-baseline interferometers or sparse aperture telescopes in space, since the aperture diameters required are in excess of 500m - a regime in which monolithic or segmented designs are not and will not be feasible - and since they require observations at wavelengths not accessible from the ground. The technology developments needed for these missions are challenging, but eminently feasible with a reasonable investment over the next decadeto enable flight in the 2025+ timeframe. That investment would enable tremendous gains in our understanding of the structure of the Universe and of its individual components in ways both anticipated and unimaginable today.