Upon reaching orbit, the Russian radio telescope Spektr-R’s antenna will unfold its 27 carbon fibre petals to reach a diameter of 10 meters. Once operational, however, its effective diameter will be larger than the Earth by cooperating with ground-based stations to form a virtual super-telescope. The effective resolution will be more than a thousand times that of the Hubble, allowing scientists to peer into the hearts of black holes and making it well worth the more than twenty years the project has taken.