The Government has committed to put 400 million euros on the table to finance the construction of the Canarian Island of La Palma. The project, promoted by the United States, and located on the island of Hawaii, is on the tightrope because the Donald Trump government has decided to cancel its financing. The cut is the clearest opportunity Spain has taken home, which would be the largest optical observatory in the northern hemisphere, since the palm had already been chosen as an alternative location for the quality of its heavens.
The construction of the TMT has been several times on the edge of the abyss due to the strong opposition of the natives to the project, which would rise in the mountain of Mauna Kea, where there are already several first level observatories. In 2019, the telescope consortium, formed by Japan, Canada, India and several American universities, including the University of California, decided to move forward with this location. But Donald Trump’s budgetary sablazo includes not spending one more dollar on this project, diverting 1.6 billion dollars to another large astronomical project, the Giant Telescope Magallanes, which will be built in Chile. The decision was a surprise, because a panel of the United States had recommended the.
The Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, has announced on Wednesday up to 400 million euros to resurrect the project to build the TMT in La Palma, specifically in the Observatory of the Roque de los Muchos, they report sources from the Ministry. In this place, the great Canary Islands telescope operates, which with its 10 meters in diameter is the current largest optical observatory in the world. The TMT would multiply by three the capacity for astronomical observation and allow observing the first galaxies of the universe, and including observing the first twin planet of the Earth, if it is ever discovered. Morant has made the announcement this afternoon after the meeting of the Governing Council of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, which she has presided.
Morant has assured that the government has already processed this offer to the foundation that manages the TMT. The financing would be channeled through the Center for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI). “Given the paralysis risks of this great international scientific project, in the Government of Spain we have decided to act with a commitment redoubled by science and great scientific infrastructure for the benefit of global knowledge,” said Morant.
The project now faces an important uncertainty. “For now, about one billion dollars have already been spent on the design of the project, there are another thousand, but a thousand more are needed to be able to build it,” the director of Valentín Martínez-Pillet explained to El País. The astronomer believes that the way to get all the missing financing is through a European initiative that ensures complete financing for construction, which would have been 10 years.
Chile will not only house the GMT, but also the one, financed by Europe, and which will be almost 40 meters in diameter. “It would be very sad to have Enromes capacities in the southern hemisphere and not have them in the north, since from here we can observe astronomical objects that are not visible from the south. It is something that has never happened,” says the director of the IAC.
The defenders of the Canarian option ensure that the TMT could begin to be built immediately, since the necessary project C, valid until September 2026.
The project would be decisive for the island’s economy. It would leave about 400 million euros under construction and generate about 150 jobs from observatory operators, and several tens of millions of euros in operations each year, according to the IAC calculations. “If currently 3% of the Palma’s GDP is provided by astrophysics, with the TMT it would jump to 6%,” Martínez-Pillet emphasizes. “The most important thing is that if the TMT does not come finally, world astrophysics will be done in Chile and not in the Canary Islands, and in 10 years the palm will no longer be competitive worldwide,” he adds.
The problems for the TMT began in 2014, when it was decided to start the works in Mauna Kea, the highest peak of Hawaii, which the natives consider sacred. The opponents and paralyzed the construction. The project was criticized with a campaign of lies in social networks, such as that the installation was a laser weapon controlled by China or that would work with nuclear energy. At the same time a long legal battle began that ended in 2019. Even so, the building has been completely stopped so far.
In Spain, on the other hand, the project has always had the support of all competent institutions at all levels. The previous Minister of Science, Pedro Duque, strive to bring the TMT to the Canary Islands. After the budget setback in the United States, the project to house this installation was again a possibility and the IAC began calling the authorities to resurrect it.
During a press conference after the Council, Minister Morant has also announced that the IAC budget grows in 2025 in almost two million euros, up to a total of 18.6 million.
