Contract signed for the ELT coating plant

At a ceremony at ESO Headquarters in Garching, Germany, on 18 June 2018, ESO signed the contract for the design, manufacture and installation of the coating plant for the primary mirror segments of ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope with Belgium-based company AGC Glass Europe. The company will be responsible for the construction of the facilities at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in northern Chile which will be used to coat the telescope’s individual primary mirror segments with a protected layer of highly reflective silver.

This picture shows the signatures being placed on the contract. The ESO Director General, Xavier Barcons, is shown alongside Patrick Van Bortel, New Business Manager of Building and Industrial Glass, AGC Glass Europe. A third signatory, Philippe Bastien, Regional President Building and Industrial Glass, AGC Glass Europe, was unable to attend the signature event and signed the contract beforehand.