Congress has bought time for the Thirty Meter Telescope to be built on Mauna Kea, the site of a wave of protests in 2019 that halted construction of the telescope planned for the mountain’s summit. 

The TMT project has a funding shortfall of about $1 billion and appeared dead last year after the National Science Foundation recommended funding go to another large telescope project – the Giant Magellan Telescope in Chile — amid federal budget cuts.

A recent appropriations bill passed by Congress, however, includes language that keeps the TMT project alive for now, but doesn’t allocate additional federal funding to either telescope. Federal lawmakers directed the science foundation to advance both the TMT and the Magellan observatory to final design review, one of the last steps before construction begins on a telescope. 

Progressing through that stage would allow Congress to evaluate both projects before deciding which should receive funding, according to U.S. Rep. Ed Case.

“There is no reason to prematurely narrow our options,” Case said in a written statement. 

Case sits on the House Appropriations Committee and requested the bill language that pushed forward the two telescope projects.

The bill has already been signed into law by President Donald Trump. However, it doesn’t include any funding for the projects to complete the design phase and specifies that stage must advance at no additional cost to the federal government.

Project Status Is Uncertain

The TMT and GMT are both part of the U.S. Extremely Large Telescope program. Last year, the NSF considered capping funding to that program at about $1.6 billion. The GMT is expected to cost about $2.5 billion and the TMT is short about $1 billion of the estimated $3 billion it needs to complete the project.

In a written statement, officials with the Magellan telescope said that the final design phase is privately funded and is expected to finish in the next two years.

Whether the TMT can complete the design phase without more federal support is still unclear.

A TMT spokesperson said project proponents greatly appreciate Congress’ attention to the observatory but declined further comment until the NSF responded to the federal measure. The NSF also didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Partners in the TMT International Observatory include the California Institute of Technology, the national science departments of Japan and India, Canada’s National Research Council, the University of California, and an association of astronomy researchers at 45 institutions in the U.S. and abroad.

The observatory is exploring options to build in the Spanish-controlled Canary Islands off the coast of Portugal, but officials have said that the Big Island remains their top site for TMT. The total cost of the project is now up to $3 billion, although that may change.

The appropriations bill also directs $30 million for the development of “next generation astronomy facilities” recommended in the Astro2020 survey of astronomy and astrophysics. Those projects include the Extremely Large Telescopes such as TMT as well as other projects to launch probes and assess the livability of other star systems.

Congress also required the science foundation to brief lawmakers in the coming months on its plans to implement the funding measure and advance the two large telescope projects through the final design phase.

Strong Opposition

TMT became a symbol of longstanding criticism over the state’s management of Mauna Kea. Opponents of astronomy on the mountain have pointed to a history of mismanagement by the observatories. Although the astronomy community and the University of Hawaiʻi, which holds a master lease for the summit, have done a better job of caretaking the mountain, many of the lands are set for new management come 2028. 

More:  New Mauna Kea Authority Has Difficult Task Ahead — And Limited Time

The future of astronomy on the mountain top is still in question as the new agency tasked with taking over management of Mauna Kea gets its legs. That new authority will need to make a decision in the coming months on whether to allow construction of new facilities, including TMT, on the sites of decommissioned telescopes.

Opponents of TMT have raised environmental concerns over the telescope’s construction and its impact on native wildlife at the summit, although the primary objection to construction at the summit is that it would disturb a sacred site.

In one story from Hawaiian mythology, Mauna Kea is the firstborn son of Wākea, the sky father, and Papa, the earth mother, who are the progenitors of the planet and of the Hawaiian race.

Kealoha Pisciotta, a former telescope employee who became a leader in the protest movement against new telescope construction, said the appropriations bill sounds like bluster from Congress.

TMT opponents are still riding a high wave after halting construction seven years ago. The federal government’s plan last year to back a different observatory, TMT’s exploration of a site in Europe, and the Trump administration’s alienation of important partners like Canada and India have galvanized telescope opponents.

Pisciotta said the law is on their side, too. Leaders in the Mauna Kea movement recently won a Hawai‘i Supreme Court case over the jurisdiction of the summit access road that could make it more difficult for construction vehicles to transport equipment.

The science foundation also has not started a consultation process required by law for federally funded projects, and TMT proponents have yet to complete an examination of the project’s impact on cultural resources under another landmark state court ruling.

Pisciotta said they need to play by the rules, even when those rules make it harder to move forward.

“The law is still on our side. And it’s for everyone, not just Hawaiians,” she said. “When we win, all of Hawai‘i wins. What’s good for the ʻāina is good for us too.”

Civil Beat’s coverage of environmental issues on Hawaiʻi island is supported in part by a grant from the Dorrance Family Foundation.