Who launched the project, and when will it be completed?
Roberto Gilmozzi: The European Southern Observatory is developing the project, which it initiated. Our mission is to build and oversee world-class ground telescopes. We already constructed the Very Large Telescope (VLT) which is up and running in Chile, and to build on this success, we decided to move ahead with the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) project. This project is the culmination of ten years of research and study by the ESO and the European astronomical community. The project was launched to build a more powerful telescope so that we can find answers to the major questions astronomy is facing today. Important technological advances have been made, so it was the right time to put forward the project. The ESO Council gave us the green light and we began the current study phase in 2007.

How is your organization set up?
R. G.: About 40 engineers and astronomers in three different design offices are participating in the E-ELT program. All our teams are based in Munich, Germany, which is where our headquarters is located. It’s an international team, with staff from all the ESO member countries(1). Each office manages part of the project – the telescope itself, the instrumentation, the operating procedures – and reports back to me. A project director in each office oversees the interactions with the thirty or so subcontractors and suppliers working on the project. Everything is welloiled: We’re using the same setup as we did for VLT, which was very successful. Risk management is one of the major challenges for those of us overseeing the project.

What are you biggest concerns?
R. G.: We’re dealing with several technological challenges, such as the active optics that are required for us to obtain the necessary diffraction limits: Without this active optics, we won’t be able to study the scientific questions that interest us most. We are also assessing any new progress made between now and 2018, when the telescope is scheduled to enter service. The construction project is based on existing technology, but we plan on integrating any new technology that may come to light in the meantime.