The Enabling Capabilities of the Super Pressure Balloon Platform: Diffraction-Limited, Wide-field Imaging from the Stratosphere

We propose the development of a stratospheric balloon-borne observatory whose diffraction-limited, wide-field imaging capability far exceeds that of HST. The demand for sub arc-second resolution imaging to complement the new large terrestrial programs, such as LSST, will grow exponentially in the next decade. The proposed project will provide it.