The construction project of the giant telescope Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) was at risk. Due to the proposed budget of Donald Trump for 2026, the National Scientific Fund of the United States (NSF) may lose almost 60% of financing. In this case, the development of TMT will stop, and the priority will be given to another project – the giant telescope of Magellan (GMT) in Chile.
Against this background, Spain proposed to take the project and build a telescope on the island of La Palma (Canar Islands), where since 2016 the possibility of transferring in the event of a refusal of the main site-the peak of Mauna Kaa in Hawaii.
Spanish Minister of Science Diana Morant said that the country is ready to invest up to 400 million euros and become a “home of future astronomy.”
TMT is one of the three largest terrestrial telescopes in development. Its mirror will be almost 30 meters in diameter. He will give astronomers the opportunity to study the universe with incredible detail.
However, the place in Spain is inferior to Hawaiians in height and quality of observations due to the greater density of the atmosphere. Nevertheless, if the US budget is adopted, the transfer of the project to Europe may be the only way to save it.
The fate of the telescope now depends on the decision of the US Congress.
