CANBERRA, July 15 -- Australian space scientists have captured two significant contracts to build astronomical instruments for some of the world's leading telescope projects, a senior official said here Tuesday.

The Giant Magellan Telescope and a laser ranging telescope will include Australian parts designed and built at the new Advanced Instrumentation and Technology Center (AITC) at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, said Minister for Industry Ian Macfarlane while launching the second stage of the center.

The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) - which is a huge, earth- based telescope under construction in Chile - is set to revolutionize the people's view and understanding of the universe.

"The center is directly involved in design and development of the GMT, which will collect more light than any telescope ever, at the best resolution ever," Macfarlane said.

"Thanks to the adaptive optics system being developed in Australia the GMT will have a resolution 10 times better than the Hubble Space Telescope, by actively correcting for the blurring caused by the atmosphere.

"This will help find answers to questions about such cosmic mysteries as the formation of galaxies, dark matter and dark energy," he said.

"The center demonstrates that Australia is determined to continue to engage with world-leading technologies and support niche manufacturing."

According to ANU Director Professor Matthew Colless, the AITC will provide a hub for Australia's space industry that will grow with more global contracts.

"Australia has many small to medium enterprises in the space industry. We want to enable them to get together to take on larger projects," he said.

Since the launch of first stage of the center in 2006, the AITC has been the base for major collaborations between astronomical institutions across the world.