MIT joins in constructing the Giant Magellan Telescope

The following article is adapted from a joint press release issued today by MIT and the Giant Magellan Telescope.

MIT is lending its support to the Giant Magellan Telescope, joining the international consortium to advance the $2.6 billion observatory in Chile. The Institute’s participation, enabled by a transformational gift from philanthropists Phillip (Terry) Ragon ’72 and Susan Ragon, adds to the momentum to construct the Giant Magellan Telescope, whose 25.4-meter aperture will have five times the light-collecting area and up to 200 times the power of existing observatories.

“As philanthropists, Terry and Susan have an unerring instinct for finding the big levers: those interventions that truly transform the scientific landscape,” says MIT President Sally Kornbluth. “We saw this with their founding of the Ragon Institute, which pursues daring approaches to harnessing the immune system to prevent and cure human diseases. With today’s landmark gift, the Ragons enable an equally lofty mission to better understand the universe — and we could not be more grateful for their visionary support.”

MIT will be the 16th member of the international consortium advancing the Giant Magellan Telescope and the 10th participant based in the United States. Together, the consortium has invested $1 billion in the observatory — the largest-ever private investment in ground-based astronomy. The Giant Magellan Telescope is already 40 percent under construction, with major components being designed and manufactured across 36 U.S. states.

“MIT is honored to join the consortium and participate in this exceptional scientific endeavor,” says Ian A. Waitz, MIT’s vice president for research. “The Giant Magellan Telescope will bring tremendous new capabilities to MIT astronomy and to U.S. leadership in fundamental science. The construction of this uniquely powerful telescope represents a vital private and public investment in scientific excellence for decades to come.”

MIT brings to the consortium powerful scientific capabilities and a legacy of astronomical excellence. MIT’s departments of Physics and of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, and the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, are internationally recognized for research in exoplanets, cosmology, and environments of extreme gravity, such as black holes and compact binary stars. MIT’s involvement will strengthen the Giant Magellan Telescope’s unique capabilities in high-resolution spectroscopy, adaptive optics, and the search for life beyond Earth. It also deepens a long-standing scientific relationship: MIT is already a partner in the existing twin Magellan Telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile — one of the most scientifically valuable observing sites on Earth, and the same site where the Giant Magellan Telescope is now under construction.

“Since Galileo’s first spyglass, the world’s largest telescope has doubled in aperture every 40 to 50 years,” says Robert A. Simcoe, director of the MIT Kavli Institute and the Francis L. Friedman Professor of Physics. “Each generation’s leading instruments have resolved important scientific questions of the day and then surprised their builders with new discoveries not yet even imagined, helping humans understand our place in the universe. Together with the Giant Magellan Telescope, MIT is helping to realize our generation’s contribution to this lineage, consistent with our mission to advance the frontier of fundamental science by undertaking the most audacious and advanced engineering challenges.”

Contributing to the national strategy

MIT’s support comes at a pivotal time for the observatory. In June 2025, the National Science Foundation (NSF) advanced the Giant Magellan Telescope into its Final Design Phase, one of the final steps before it becomes eligible for federal construction funding. To demonstrate readiness and a strong commitment to U.S. leadership, the consortium offered to privately fund this phase, which is traditionally supported by the NSF.

MIT’s investment is an integral part of the national strategy to secure U.S. access to the next generation of research facilities known as “extremely large telescopes.” The Giant Magellan Telescope is a core partner in the U.S. Extremely Large Telescope Program, the nation’s top priority in astronomy. The National Academies’ Astro2020 Decadal Survey called the program “absolutely essential if the United States is to maintain a position as a leader in ground-based astronomy.” This long-term strategy also includes the recently commissioned Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile. Rubin is scanning the sky to detect rare, fast-changing cosmic events, while the Giant Magellan Telescope will provide the sensitivity, resolution, and spectroscopic instruments needed to study them in detail. Together, these Southern Hemisphere observatories will give U.S. scientists the tools they need to lead 21st-century astrophysics.

“Without direct access to the Giant Magellan Telescope, the U.S. risks falling behind in fundamental astronomy, as Rubin’s most transformational discoveries will be utilized by other nations with access to their own ‘extremely large telescopes’ under development,” says Walter Massey, board chair of the Giant Magellan Telescope.

MIT’s participation brings the United States a step closer to completing the promise of this powerful new observatory on a globally competitive timeline. With federal construction funding, it is expected that the observatory could reach 90 percent completion in less than two years and become operational by the 2030s.

“MIT brings critical expertise and momentum at a time when global leadership in astronomy hangs in the balance,” says Robert Shelton, president of the Giant Magellan Telescope. “With MIT, we are not just adding a partner; we are accelerating a shared vision for the future and reinforcing the United States’ position at the forefront of science.”

Other members of the Giant Magellan Telescope consortium include the University of Arizona, Carnegie Institution for Science, The University of Texas at Austin, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, University of Chicago, São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), Texas A&M University, Northwestern University, Harvard University, Astronomy Australia Ltd., Australian National University, Smithsonian Institution, Weizmann Institute of Science, Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, and Arizona State University.

A boon for astrophysics research and education

Access to the world’s best optical telescopes is a critical resource for MIT researchers. More than 150 individual science programs at MIT have relied on major astronomical observatories in the past three years, engaging faculty, researchers, and students in investigations into the marvels of the universe. Recent research projects have included chemical studies of the universe’s oldest stars, led by Professor Anna Frebel; spectroscopy of stars shredded by dormant black holes, led by Professor Erin Kara; and measurements of a white dwarf teetering on the precipice of a black hole, led by Professor Kevin Burdge. 

“Over many decades, researchers at the MIT Kavli Institute have used unparalleled instruments to discover previously undetected cosmic phenomena from both ground-based observations and spaceflight missions,” says Nergis Mavalvala, dean of the MIT School of Science and the Curtis (1963) and Kathleen Marble Professor of Astrophysics. “I have no doubt our brilliant colleagues will carry on that tradition with the Giant Magellan Telescope, and I can’t wait to see what they will discover next.”

The Giant Magellan Telescope will also provide a platform for advanced R&D in remote sensing, creating opportunities to build custom infrared and optical spectrometers and high-speed imagers to further study our universe.

“One cannot have a leading physics program without a leading astrophysics program. Access to time on the Giant Magellan Telescope will ensure that future generations of MIT researchers will continue to work at the forefront of astrophysical discovery for decades to come,” says Deepto Chakrabarty, head of the MIT Department of Physics, the William A. M. Burden Professor in Astrophysics, and principal investigator at the MIT Kavli Institute. “Our institutional access will help attract and retain top researchers in astrophysics, planetary science, and advanced optics, and will give our PhD students and postdocs unrivaled educational opportunities.”