Space mission · Chile

What construction-project cost did the National Science Board authorize for its Rubin Observatory contribution in 2021?

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory on Cerro Pachon in Chile was built for a decade-long survey of the changing southern sky. In December 2021 the U.S. National Science Board authorized a revised US$571 million not-to-exceed cost for the NSF-funded construction project, including management reserve. The U.S. Department of Energy separately provided the observatory camera, which GAO valued at US$168 million; the NSF amount is not the all-partner construction cost or an audited final outturn.

Approved budget

$571 million

Cost basis: 2021

This image shows Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, beneath a late-twilight sky. Rubin is being built to conduct the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). This survey will observe the entire visible southern sky every few nights over the course of a decade, capturing about 1000 images of the sky every night and giving us a new view of our evolving Universe. The LSST is set to probe four areas of science, one of which is mapping the Milky Way to answer questions about its st
RubinObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURACC BY 4.0

Cost evidence

Basis of the published figure

Approved budget2021
gao.gov

Project record

Opened or launched

Vera C. Rubin Observatory

2025

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