The European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) will be the largest ground-based telescope in the world. With a billion Euros to spend, officials from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) are encouraging British companies to be become involved.
“The prestige of working on a project as large and as ground-breaking as the E-ELT is invaluable,” said acting chief executive of UK Trade & Investment Susan Haird. “It is a fantastic opportunity to be associated with a project that will have a reputation as being as the forefront of science and technological advancement.
“The UK already has world-leading skills in project managing and constructing large-scale civil engineering projects and we also have great skills in optics so this is an enterprise that British companies really should be able to play a leading role in.
The E-ELT will be constructed by the European Southern Observatory at Cerra Armazones in Chile with construction scheduled to start next year. It will begin operating early in the next decade.
![Related Information](/assets/adverts/42659-1717236396-Construction-Management_Magazine-728-x-90px.gif)
The 42m-wide E-ELT will have the task of tracking down earth-like planets, capable of harbouring life, orbiting distant stars.
UK Trade & Investment said that building the E-ELT will take more than optics as the telescope is a major civil engineering project and will involve steel fabrication, precision actuation and detector systems.
A day-long event is taking place today in London to put British companies interested in finding out more in touch with senior decision-makers from the ESO. It is jointly organised between UK Trade & Investment, the government’s international business development department, the European Southern Observatory and the Science and Technology Facilities Council.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk