What construction cost does ESO estimate for the full-baseline Extremely Large Telescope in 2023 prices?
The European Southern Observatory is building the Extremely Large Telescope on Cerro Armazones in Chile. Its planned 39-metre primary mirror will make it the largest optical and near-infrared telescope. ESO estimates construction of the full baseline facility at approximately EUR 1.45 billion in 2023 economic conditions; this is not money already spent and excludes the separately estimated annual operating cost.
Published project estimate
€1.45 billion
Approximately $1.57 billion
Cost basis: 2023
G. Vecchia/ESOCC BY 4.0
Cost evidence
Basis of the published figure
Published project estimate2023