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The ESO said its
finance committee had agreed to enter into final discussions
with the consortium, which was the winning bidder to design,
manufacture, transport and build the main dome and structure for
the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT).
The consortium includes major Italian builder Cimolai and
subcontractor the EIE Group, as well as Astaldi.
The ESO said in a statement that it hoped to sign the contract
by May but did not give further details. It has said previously
that building the E-ELT would cost around $1.2 billion (1.1
billion euros) at 2012 prices.
The E-ELT will have a primary mirror 43 yards (39 meters) in
diameter, which under current plans would make it by far the
biggest telescope in operation worldwide when it begins
observations in the mid-2020s.
Chile's clear desert skies have made it a prime location for
stargazers and a new generation of giant telescopes at various
stages of planning and construction. These include the Giant
Magellan Telescope, which should briefly be the world's largest
in the early 2020s before being overtaken by the E-ELT.
The E-ELT's goals include observations of the atmosphere around
rocky exoplanets, which may yield signs of extraterrestrial
life. The massive telescope should also be able to look back at
the earliest moments after the Big Bang and help answer
questions related to the expansion of the universe.
(Reporting by Rosalba O'Brien; Editing by Tom Brown)
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