Status of the Small-Sized Telescopes Programme for the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory

The gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) will consist of two sites (in La Palma, at the Canary Islands, and Paranal, in the Chilean Andes) to cover the northern and southern sky observations. More than 70 telescopes will populate the two sites with three different diameters classes (23 m, 12 m, and 4 m diameter) to cover a wide energy spectral band together, from a few tens GeV to a few hundred TeV.
For the CTA South “Alpha Configuration” the construction and installation of 37 (+5) SST telescopes are planned, a number that could increase up to 70 in future upgrades. The SSTs are developed and implemented by an international consortium of institutes led by INAF and will observe the highest energy range of CTAO, from about 1 TeV to up to 300 TeV.
The SSTs use a dual-mirror aplanatic polynomial configuration similar to the Schwarzschild-Couder design. They are equipped with a focal plane camera based on SiPM detectors, which covers a field of view of approximately 9 degrees.
In this contribution, we will present the progress of the SST programme and the plan up to the on-site integration of all the telescopes.

Brief CV of Dr. Alessio Trois:

Alessio Trois has been working for the National Institute for Astrophysics since September 2004. During his time at INAF, he has worked at various institutes (IASF in Milan, IAPS in Rome) and currently works at the Astronomical Observatory of Cagliari.
He is currently positioned in the “Techno-Scientific” sector, under the “Technical Project Management, Systems Engineering, Product Assurance” sub-sector. Over the years, he has always worked within the project offices of various INAF projects related to space missions and ground-based telescopes, holding various positions of responsibility. For the SST-CTA International Consortium, he serves as the Program and System Manager of the Project Office.