The low thermal expansion coefficient, high hardness, rigidity and thermal conductivity make silicon carbide a desirable mirror material for astronomical telescopes. The growth technology (chemical vapor deposition) has been scaled up to produce disks of polycrystalline silicon carbide up to  in diameter, and several telescopes like the Herschel Space Telescope are already equipped with SiC optics, as well the Gaia space observatory spacecraft subsystems are mounted on a rigid silicon carbide frame, which provides a stable structure that will not expand or contract due to heat.