The WSO, a world-class observatory for the ultraviolet
  The World Space Observatory is an unconventional space project proceeding via distributed studies. The present design, verified for feasibilty, consists of a 1.7-meter telescope operating at the second Largangian point of the Earth-Sun system. The focal plane instruments consist of three UV spectrometers covering the spectral band from Lyman alpha to the atmospheric cutoff with R~55,000 and offering long-slit capability over the same band with R~1,000. In addition, a number of UV and optical imagers view adjacent fields to that sampled by the spectrometers. Their performance compares well with that of HST/ACS and the spectral capabilities of WSO rival those of HST/COS. 
M.A. Barstow (University of Leicester), L. Binette, N. Brosch, F-Z.   Cheng, M. Dennefeld, A.I. Gomez de Castro, H. Haubold,...