Offer responds to US funding cut putting Hawaii location of astronomy facility in further doubt
The Spanish government has sought to make the Canary Islands the home of the bedevilled Thirty Metre Telescope, by offering up to €400 million in public support for its construction.
An international consortium has been trying for years to construct the TMT, which would join the ‘extremely large telescope’ class of major astronomy facilities.
Sacred impediment
Construction began in Hawaii over a decade ago, but has been delayed by protests led by the native community, who object to its impact on the Mauna Kea mountain, which they consider sacred.
Earlier this year the TMT was dealt another blow when the administration of US president Donald Trump announced in its 2026 budget proposal that it would not provide funding for the facility—instead it backed the Giant Magellan Telescope under construction in Chile’s Atacama Desert.
“Given the unaffordability of continuing funding two different multibillion-dollar telescopes, the National Science Foundation will advance the Giant Magellan Telescope into the Major Facility Final Design Phase,” the Trump administration said at the time.
“The TMT will not advance to the Final Design Phase and will not receive additional commitment of funds from NSF.”
Spanish offer
Unveiling the Spanish offer to host the TMT on the island of La Palma, science minister Diana Morant said: “Faced with the risk [to] this major international scientific project, the Spanish government has decided to act with a redoubled commitment to science and major scientific infrastructures for the benefit of global knowledge.
“While some countries are cutting back on investments in science and even denying it, Spain is a haven for science, the home of scientists seeking to advance and develop their projects…Spain wants and can be the home of the future of astronomy and astrophysics. We have the capacity and the political will to do so.”
TMT management response
TMT International Observatory, the collaboration that manages the telescope project, said in response: “For over 10 years, TMT has been engaging in discussions about the La Palma location as part of our contingency planning. No decision has been made about TMT’s future at our primary site in Hawaii.”
It said the facility would be “the most sophisticated telescope ever constructed, at a scale needed to make the next generation of breakthroughs in the search for life on other planets, uncovering the nature of dark matter and dark energy that makes up most of our universe, and finding answers to the question of our very origins”, adding: “We will work expeditiously to secure our project’s future at the best site available to us.”
The collaboration developing the TMT includes universities and institutes in California and Japan, as well as the National Research Council Canada and the Indian government.
The €400m offered by Spain would come through its Centre for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI).