Eric and Wendy Schmidt fund four fast-build telescopes including Lazuli

Eric and Wendy Schmidt’s philanthropic group, Schmidt Sciences, unveiled plans at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Phoenix to finance four major new telescopes — including an orbital observatory called Lazuli — and aims to have all four up and running within four years.

The projects, grouped as the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Observatory System, include Lazuli, the Argus Array, the Deep Synoptic Array (D.S.A.) and the Large Fiber Array Spectroscopic Telescope (LFAST). Schmidt Sciences says it will reuse available technologies, including high-performance computer chips, and pursue a faster, cheaper, higher-risk approach.

"This is an experiment in accelerating astrophysics discovery," Arpita Roy, lead of the Astrophysics and Space Institute at Schmidt Sciences, said, and she added, "We accept much more risk" while calling it "calibrated, thoughtful." Schmidt Sciences said it has been funding preliminary design studies and prototypes, that manufacturing of components has begun, and that agreements with universities to manage the ground systems are in place.

Stuart Feldman, the president of Schmidt Sciences, said "we're in a position of saying these things are a go" but declined to disclose total spending, noting only that "Lazuli is hundreds of millions of dollars." Officials said the projects are meant to complement, not replace, long-term federal programs.

Key Topics

Science, Schmidt Sciences, Lazuli, Argus Array, Deep Synoptic Array, Lfast