The peak of Mauna Kea has been a go to place for astronomers around the world with more than a dozen telescopes. The 30m telescope (TMT) was supposed to the latest addition to the line-up of telescopes in Hawaii. With an estimated cost of over a billion dollars it would be able to see farther and deeper into space than any other ground based telescope in existence. However, its location has come under lot of scrutiny due to the location being sacred to the native Hawaiians.
The TMT is a collaboration between the US, China, India, Japan and Canada and is designed for near-ultraviolet to mid-infrared observations, featuring adaptive optics to assist in correcting image blur. There were several proposed locations in Chile, Hawaii and India, however the southern hemisphere was ruled out completely due to the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) which is already in construction in Chile. In July 2009, Mauna Kea was announced as the preferred site for the TMT which has led to several protests from native Hawaiians who are risking arrests to oppose the construction of the TMT at Mauna Kea which has been an integral part of their culture and history.
Opposition to the Mauna Kea Observatories has existed since the first telescope was built in the late 1960s as Native Hawaiians voiced concerns over the site being sacred to the Hawaiian religion as the home of several deities. Environmental groups and activists have been expressing unease over endangered species habitat. Initially the US government and several telescope franchises entered into negotiations with the native Hawaiians and settled for 4-6 telescopes to be built at Mauna Kea. However, this pact has been broken several times in the past decades with Hawaiians finally breaking the silence and opposing the construction of the TMT. Of late, on 30 October 2018, the Supreme Court of Hawaii approved the resumption of construction of the TMT.However, it remains to be seen, what will be the future of the other telescopes that will be planned at Mauna Kea, which is the prime location for the construction of very large telescopes due to its altitude, air quality and distance from human settlements.