The Spanish Government and the Government of the Canary Islands ratify the allocation of 71.1 million euros that will allow the maintenance and development of scientific projects of the highest level until 2030. The GTC is part of the Map of Singular Scientific and Technical Facilities (ICTS) of the Ministry of Science and Innovation and is the largest optical-infrared telescope ever built.
On Tuesday, 20 June, the Council of Ministers approved the agreement by which the Ministry of Science and Innovation will allocate 47.8 million euros between 2023 and 2030 to the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC or Grantecan). To this is added, as part of the agreement, funding from the Government of the Canary Islands, which will amount to 23.3 million euros.
The GTC is part of the Map of Singular Scientific and Technical Facilities (ICTS) of the Ministry of Science and Innovation and is the largest optical-infrared telescope ever built.
Thanks to the GTC, the Spanish astronomical community, together with its partners in this project from Mexico and the United States, have a unique observing instrument located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma.
The GTC belongs to the public limited company GRANTECAN, in which the General State Administration and the Canary Islands have a 50% shareholding.
Currently, more than 80 people work at GRANTECAN, including scientific, technical and administrative staff. After 14 years of operation, it is still a telescope with state-of-the-art technology and at the forefront of international scientific research.
This funding agreement will increase the competitiveness of the GTC, securing its operational needs and providing it with new instrumentation to meet new scientific challenges.
The Adaptive Optics (AO) for the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) corrects the effect of the atmospheric turbulence on the light, to exploit the high spatial resolution capability of GTC. The Laser Guide Star (LGS) extends the coverage of GTCAO to any part of the sky, increasing dramatically the capability to do high spatial resolution science.
