It was not the first space telescope but it is one of the largest and most versatile and is well known as both a vital research tool and a public relations boon for astronomythe hubble telescope is named after astronomer edwin hubble. The hubble space telescope often referred to as hst or hubble is a space telescope that was launched into low earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. The square kilometre array ska is an intergovernmental radio telescope project proposed to be built in australia and south africaconceived in the 1990s and further developed and designed by the late 2010s if built it would have a total collecting area of approximately one square kilometre sometime in the 2020s.