Many were deeply disheartened to learn that the National Science Foundation has defunded Hawaii’s Thirty Meter Telescope project. Still, they also should feel hopeful that, despite this tragic setback, the remaining astronomy installations atop Mauna Kea will retain support for their public and educational benefits.
The NSF revealed Friday in its budget request for the 2026 fiscal year that it will no longer fund the TMT on Mauna Kea, which for more than two decades has been proposed as the site for the state-of-the-art telescope. Instead, the foundation will devote its resources to the competing project, the Giant Magellan Telescope in Chile.
The size of the planned 18-story TMT and its cost, which had ballooned over time from $1.4 billion to $3 billion, were among the reasons it was controversial. But above all, it was cultural sensitivity: The site, atop the islands’ tallest mountain, was viewed as sacred by many Native Hawaiians. It is also part of the “ceded lands” that are to benefit Native Hawaiians.
The NSF decision was devastating to those who hoped the project would inject resources into programs for science education of Hawaii youth, as well as support the further development of astronomy as an economic sector.
However, it was not a surprising outcome.
Most recently, the move by the Trump administration to slash federal spending, including the NSF’s $9 billion budget by 56%, explains the rationale of choosing a single telescope project. The Chile location is burdened with far fewer political barriers to completion.
The barriers for TMT in Hawaii solidified over a long history. The group of project critics, at first on the fringes of the cultural community and of the public at large, grew into a full-fledged international movement, an activism that drew local residents and celebrities alike. That’s why progress toward construction stalled out, despite the fact that state officials had granted its permits.
The bad blood between TMT protesters and the previous managers of the existing science complex at the summit, the University of Hawaii, arose in part because of environmental mismanagement of the site.
UH officials did ultimately improve stewardship of the summit and prepared detailed plans toward that end. But the damage to trust was done, and the political pressures led state lawmakers to change the status quo.
The Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority was formed in 2022 and is in the midst of a transition period ending in three years. After that point it will assume full responsibility for the Mauna Kea lands now under UH and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. According to its most recent annual report to the Legislature, it is still in the process of management staff recruitment and formation of key committees.
The authority’s board primarily comprises representatives of the Hawaiian and scientific constituencies. Its challenge at this stage is to chart a course that both protects the site culturally and recognizes its potential for increasing knowledge and advancing the economy through the existing telescopes.
These include the Keck Observatories, the Subaru Telescope, Gemini North Telescope and the Canada- France-Hawaii Telescope. Their discoveries continue to roll in. In recent months, a cutting-edge instrument at Keck detected vibrations of stars that gave insights into their size and age.
Finding new opportunities like those that TMT would have afforded, including economic support and educational resources, will have to wait. But in that time, careful balancing of interests could win over more opponents to the promise of science. That vision still could become Hawaii’s reality.
