The Caltech Submillimeter Telescope atop Maunakea is a step closer to decommissioning.
The state Board of Land and Natural Resources unanimously approved in January a Conservation District Use Permit for the telescope’s decommissioning.
The permit sets the terms and conditions that Caltech must follow during the removal of the telescope and restoration of the site.
The telescope came online in 1987 and has been one of the world’s premier facilities for astronomical research and instrumentation development.
Caltech hopes to finish deconstructing the telescope by the end of the year.
It is the first of five Maunakea telescopes set to be decommissioned in exchange for the Thirty Meter Telescope.
