HILO >> Twenty individuals and groups have been accepted as parties in the Thirty Meter Telescope contested case hearing.

Retired Judge Riki May Amano fielded more than 30 applicants at a pre-conference hearing Friday in Hilo, allowing 20 to become parties to Department of Land and Natural Resources contested case proceedings that will determine whether a conservation district use permit should be granted for the controversial $1.4 billion giant telescope project atop Mauna Kea.

Amano set a July 18 deadline for pre-hearing motions and an Aug. 5 meeting to rule on those motions. The hearing is expected to last through the fall.

“The process is not easy,” she said. “There’s a lot of preparation that goes on beforehand.”

Among the approved parties are TMT International Observatory, which includes all the telescope partners, and Perpetuating Unique Educational Opportunities, which promotes science education while respecting cultural practices.

Richard Wurdeman, an attorney representing six individuals and Mauna Kea Hui, opposed including the TMT International Observatory and PUEO.

“We strongly opposed them, but we’re now going to get ready and move forward with this contested case,” he said.

Douglas Ing, an attorney representing the TMT partners, said he was pleased with Amano’s ruling.

“TMT has a lot at stake and will be drastically impacted by the results,” he said. “We look forward to a fair and efficient process.”

The Hawaii Supreme Court in December unanimously ruled that the Board of Land and Natural Resources failed to follow the state Constitution when it formally approved the project’s conservation district use permit in 2011 before holding a contested case hearing.

A contested case allows the board to fully evaluate a project before final approval.

The court revoked the permit and sent it back to the board for a new contested case hearing.

The TMT partners had hoped the telescope, capable of seeing more than 13 billion light-years away, would become operational in 2024, but it now faces possible years of delay.

Construction has been stalled since April 2015 when protesters occupied the mountain and blocked work crews from getting to the site. The manufacturing of telescope parts has continued at plants in the project’s member nations, which include the United States, India, China, Japan and Canada, but TMT officials have also considered alternative sites in the event the project doesn’t move forward on Mauna Kea.

Amano offered each applicant at Friday’s hearing the opportunity to fully participate as an intervener or to testify as a witness. Seven people withdrew their applications and opted to provide witness testimony. Ten applicants were absent Friday and dismissed as potential parties.