Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility

The Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility, usually shortened to ST-ECF, was an institution that provided support and service functions mainly for European users of the NASA and ESA Hubble Space Telescope. It was established in 1984 by the European Space Agency and the European Southern Observatory and was housed at the ESO headquarters in Garching bei München, Germany. It supplied detailed technical information about the telescope and its science instruments, helped European astronomers prepare observing proposals, and coordinated the development of data analysis software suited to Hubble users. Its staff kept close contact with the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, which runs the observatory. Its last head was Robert Fosbury, with Jeremy Walsh as deputy. The facility ceased operations on 31 December 2010.