On January 7, 2025, the CTAO became the 29th ERIC established by the European Commission. The Observatory will change how we study the Universe at high energies.
The establishment of CTAO ERIC is a significant milestone, enabling rapid progress in the Observatory’s construction. Over the next decade, more than 60 telescopes across two sites—the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos in La Palma, Spain, and the Paranal Observatory of ESO in Chile—will operate under a unified framework, making it the largest and most powerful observatory for gamma-ray astronomy in the world.
“The ERIC status provides the CTAO with the legal stability and administrative advantages it needs to be sustainable in its worldwide operations and impact,” commented Aldo Covello, Chair of the Board of Governmental Representatives (BGR), on CTAO’s website.
The Observatory will explore the very high-energy Universe within an unprecedented energy range (20 GeV – 300 TeV) and accuracy and seek to understand the impact of high-energy particles in the evolution of cosmic systems, to gain insight into the most extreme sources in the Universe, such as black holes, or to explore frontiers in physics, such as dark matter.
The ambitious project to build the world’s most powerful gamma-ray observatory has seen years of extensive preparatory work and the ERIC status is a significant milestone on that road. The CTAO was recognised as a “Landmark” on the European Forum on Research Infrastructure (ESFRI) Roadmap in 2018 and, in 2022, was ranked as the top priority for new ground-based infrastructures in the ASTRONET Roadmap. The CTAO ERIC Members are Austria, Czech Republic, European Southern Observatory (ESO), France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and Spain. Additionally, Switzerland is an Observer, Japan is a Strategic Partner and Australia is a Third Party.
International collaboration, Open Science and innovation
In the official announcement from the European Commission, Ekaterina Zaharieva, Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, underlined how the CTAO aligns with the strengths and priorities of the ERIC community:
“This state-of-the-art centre will solidify Europe’s leadership in the field of astro-particle physics, while also enhancing its role as a hub for international research collaborations. The establishment of the CTAO ERIC underscores the strength and potential of the ERIC model in fostering not only pan-European partnerships but also global scientific cooperation.”
Embracing the principles of Open Science, the Observatory will break new ground by adopting an open, proposal-driven approach, offering public access to its high-level science data and software products and fostering a culture of collaboration and innovation.
What´s next?
The ERIC status makes it possible to take the project a step further, as it provides the necessary administrative and legal framework for crucial activities such as the coordination of international funding, and construction, operation, data processing and distribution. Hiring new staff can also continue in all sites, including in the Headquarters in Italy and in the data centre in Germany. At the next Annual Meeting and Project Meeting, CTAO will sign the Memorandum of Understanding to join the ERIC Forum.
The CTAO is now ready to initiate construction. In the next three years, five Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs), three Medium-Sized Telescope (MST), and four Large-Sized Telescopes (LST) are expected to be built across the two sites.
The Observatory is expected to be operational at the end of the current decade.