Thirty Meter Telescope still on hold as it deals with pandemic, funding issues

Last summer, officials with the Thirty Meter Telescope said they would delay construction of the landmark observatory planned for Mauna Kea until at least spring, given the pandemic and other factors.

Well, spring has sprung, the pandemic is still with us and there’s still no sign of construction crews. Sounds like it could be a while.

TMT officials Friday said construction near the summit remains on hold as the project continues to assess a number of factors affecting its timeline and schedule.

“The pandemic is a factor for us, as with everyone,” Gordon Squires, TMT vice president of external relations, said in a statement. “There are travel restrictions and health and safety measures in place, as well as varying challenges posed by the pandemic across the partnership.”

Based in Pasadena, Calif., the TMT International Observatory nonprofit is a coalition made up of Caltech, the University of California and the government science agencies in Japan, China, India and Canada.

“We continue to make progress in most areas of the project, doing the work we can safely do in the partner countries by advancing the different components of the telescope.” Squires said.

Another factor in the delay, he said, is funding. He said the project is awaiting the recommendations of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey (Astro 2020), sponsored by NASA, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy, which will prioritize projects for future major U.S. funding. A report is expected sometime later this year.

TMT officials are hoping their project figures prominently in the survey’s report, because it will likely lead to a much-needed influx of cash for a project whose price tag has jumped by a billion dollars to $2.4 billion due to construction delays, inflation and other costs.

In an effort to obtain the extra funding, the TMT teamed up with the Giant Magellan Telescope, which is planned for Chile, and the U.S. National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory to propose a U.S. Extremely Large Telescope Program, which would offer American astronomers viewing coverage of 100% of the sky in both the Northern (TMT) and Southern (GMT) hemispheres.

Last year, TMT and GMT jointly made a presentation to the Astro2020 survey panel in hopes of getting its blessing, and TMT submitted a planning and design proposal to the National Science Foundation with the aim of scoring $850 million.

Another factor that has to considered by TMT is the opposition that has prevented crews from reaching the construction site near the summit of Mauna Kea.

Construction was blocked for the first time in 2015, when scores of protesters stopped work vehicles from traveling up Mauna Kea Access Road a few months before the state Supreme Court invalidated the project’s work permit.

The latest attempt to start the project was halted in July 2019 when hundreds, and later thousands, of mostly Hawaiian protesters, many of whom believe the mountain is sacred, blocked the access road again.

When the coronavirus pandemic emerged a year ago, the protest camp and any immediate plans to build the cutting-edge telescope were put on hold.

Meanwhile, the state House of Representatives is forming a working group that aims to develop recommendations for a new Mauna Kea management structure over the next year. As proposed, half of the 14-member panel would be Native Hawaiians.

TMT spokesman Scott Ishikawa said the tallest mountain on La Palma in Spain’s Canary Islands remains a viable alternative site for the telescope.

Last month the Spanish Senate gave its unanimous support for La Palma to host the TMT and has asked the government, both national and local, to take all necessary actions to help make it happen, according to news reports in Spain.