VLOT Consultation Final Report and Recommendations

12 August 2026

The CASCA/ACURA Thirty Meter Telescope Advisory Committee (CATAC) and the CASCA Ground-based Astronomy Committee (GAC) have completed the consolidation of the Very Large Optical/Infrared Telescope (VLOT) survey results and their deliberations on all available information, resulting in the following recommendations:

1.      Following the majority view expressed in the survey responses, together with subsequent deliberations by CATAC and GAC, including the information from ESO that a fixed-term ELT access is not possible for a foreseeable future,  we recommend that CASCA, ACURA, and NRC-HAA work together to initiate discussions with the Government of Canada and ESO regarding Canadian membership, with the goal of securing timely access to the ELT and the broader suite of ESO facilities within the next two federal budget cycles.

2.      In parallel, a transition strategy should be developed to manage existing observatory commitments, agreements, and investments, while ensuring continuity of scientific capabilities throughout the transition period.

3.      This transition planning should also identify any significant gaps in scientific capabilities (notably, northern access) and capacity, instrumentation opportunities, university lab support and HQP training that may arise under an ESO-focused access model. Where such gaps are identified, plans should be developed and advocacy undertaken to secure the resources required to sustain Canada’s astronomy research, technology development, instrumentation, and workforce training ecosystem.

The attached final report, including these recommendations, has been endorsed by both the ACURA and CASCA Boards. The Boards have, respectively, informed NRC of these recommendations and requested that it proceed with their implementation. We expect to hear more about the next steps in the near future.

We would like to thank everyone who participated in the consultation, the VLOT Consultation Tiger Team, and the members of CATAC and GAC, who worked diligently to synthesize the information gathered and develop these recommendations.

Sincerely,

Suresh Sivanandam, CATAC chair, and Craig Heinke, GAC Chair