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The ROSAT payload consists of the: i) X-ray telescope (XRT) with the mirror assembly, the position sensitive proportional counter (PSPC), and the high resolution imager (HRI) subsystems and ii) the Wide Field Camera (WFC).
The XRT mirror assembly is a four-fold nested Wolter I telescope with a maximum aperture of 83.5 cm and a focal length of 240 cm. The PSPC (developed by MPE) and the HRI (developed by SAO) detectors are mounted on a carousel in the focal plane behind the XRT mirror assembly.
The WFC telescope is a three-fold nested Wolter-Schwarzschild telescope with an aperture of 58 cm and a focal length of 52.5 cm. A curved microchannel plate detector is used in the focus. The WFC was developed by a consortium of British scientific institutes: University of Leicester, SERC's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Mullard Space Science Laboratory of University College London, University of Birmingham, and Imperial College of Science and Technology London.
A schematic view of the ROSAT spacecraft and its major components
is given in Figure 2.1 
.