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As humanity returns to the moon, Australia\u2019s ability to contribute to the new space race has been dealt a hammer blow after the government cut astronomers\u2019 access to the world\u2019s most powerful telescopes.<\/p>\n
Australian scientists have built and harnessed cutting-edge instruments to explore the beginning of the universe and detect oxygen on nearby Earth-like planets under a decade-long partnership with the European Southern Observatory.<\/p>\n
That arrangement is set to end after the government rejected the astronomy sector\u2019s call to pursue full membership with ESO, one of the world\u2019s pre-imminent astronomy organisations, on the same day Artemis II astronauts launched for the moon.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/935449be8c899f9716b5dc3b22985ffd3f1969bc.jpeg\")
A laser beam fired from the European Southern Observatory\u2019s (ESO) Very Large Telescope.G. H\u00fcdepohl (atacamaphoto.com)<\/p>\n
The decision cuts off Australia\u2019s access to key space observation facilities by 2027 and limits the opportunities for our engineers to build some of the most advanced instruments ever made<\/a> for ESO and feed knowledge back to local industry.<\/p>\n Ending the partnership could hinder Australia\u2019s participation in the modern space race, said Nobel laureate Brian Schmidt.<\/p>\n Australian National University scientists, for instance, are helping NASA test a new laser communication system<\/a> on the Orion spacecraft as it nears the moon, a key Australian link to the historic Artemis missions.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is directly connected to our ability to build these world-class instruments on [ESO\u2019s] telescopes,\u201d Schmidt, an astronomy professor at ANU who won a Nobel Prize in 2011<\/a> for discovering the universe\u2019s expansion was accelerating, said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we are no longer able to be part of world-class international facilities, then we\u2019re going to lose those types of capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a bitter irony in finding out the partnership was over on the same day ANU showed off its NASA laser technology and Artemis II launched, he said. \u201cThe only way I can describe it is sad.\u201d<\/p>\n Australian astronomers have contributed to more than a thousand research projects under the ESO partnership. Schmidt has used ESO\u2019s telescopes to help reveal one of the oldest stars in the universe<\/a>, while other astronomers have found the largest, fastest-growing and closest black holes to Earth using the organisation\u2019s instruments.<\/p>\n The telescopes are also key to the search for oxygen, water and life on other planets.<\/p>\n Size matters in astronomy. The bigger the telescope, the more light you can gather, the more you can see in greater detail. And ESO builds and runs some of the world\u2019s largest telescopes.<\/p>\n Under the current arrangement, Australians can apply for timeslots to use ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope, an array of 8-metre wide telescopes in Chile with no local equivalent.<\/p>\n ESO is also building the 39-metre wide Extremely Large Telescope high in the clear air of the Chilean Andes.<\/p>\n When the facility opens in 2029, it will be the world\u2019s largest ever optical telescope and spark a generational leap in space science, allowing humanity to look right to the edge of the visible universe, evaluate the atmospheres of distant exoplanets and study the dawn of galaxies.<\/p>\n Now experts fear Australia will not get access to the telescope.<\/p>\n The ESO partnership has also boosted opportunities for more than 100 specialist engineers working in astronomy.<\/p>\n That includes Australian-led efforts to build a $90 million instrument for the Very Large Telescope called MAVIS, which will capture images three times sharper than Hubble and investigate the birth of the first stars 13 billion years ago.<\/p>\n Australian professor Michael Ireland, from ANU, is at the Very Large Telescope in Chile installing a next-generation instrument called Asgard. His team have used it to gather data on a quasar \u2013 the luminous core of a galaxy powered by a supermassive black hole \u2013 10 billion light-years away.<\/p>\n \u201cAustralia has been a world leader in ground-based optical astronomy for more than 50 years,\u201d he said from ESO\u2019s Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe ESO membership was the only realistic way to maintain that leadership into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Full membership would cost $40 million per year. \u201cIt is expensive, there\u2019s no doubt about it,\u201d Schmidt said. \u201cBut it\u2019s an investment over half of the OECD is making, and Australia is one of the highest-performing OECD nations in astronomy.\u201d<\/p>\n Schmidt pointed to Wi-Fi as a benefit of looking at the stars; CSIRO radioastronomy research in the 1990s was part of the story that led to modern-day wireless internet.<\/p>\n Scientia Professor Richard Holden, a University of NSW economist, last month weighed up Australia\u2019s outsized contribution to astronomy and valued it at $330 million per year.<\/p>\n \u201cResearch expands the global stock of knowledge,\u201d Holden said upon the publication of the resulting report<\/a>, which found investing in the ESO would boost our capabilities in electric vehicles, renewable energy, defence, 5C, satellite communications, AI and quantum computing.<\/p>\n \u201cHistory shows that countries that contribute to that knowledge tend to grow faster and become more prosperous,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Astronomy Australia warned the decision risks bleeding science and engineering talent overseas. The organisation is also concerned NSW\u2019s Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) near Coonabarabran could be shut down if its federal government funding isn\u2019t extended next year.<\/p>\n The Morrison government invested $387 million in 2021 to build the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope in Western Australia and the Albanese government tipped in another $48 million in 2025. But Astronomy Australia said SKA was supposed to complement rather than replace ESO\u2019s telescopes. SKA detects radio signals while ESO\u2019s telescopes detect optical light.<\/p>\n The Australian Academy of Science condemned the government\u2019s decision. Full ESO membership was a key recommendation of the academy\u2019s plan to support astronomy<\/a> between 2026 and 2035.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen baseline funding is already thin, withdrawing from shared global infrastructure reduces access to data, talent, and opportunity without solving the underlying problem. You cannot build world-class science in isolation\u201d, said Professor Margaret Sheil, policy secretary at the academy.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Industry and Science Minister Tim Ayres did not say whether the government would work to find alternative access to large international telescopes for Australian astronomers, or whether it planned to fund AAT beyond 2027.<\/p>\n The spokesperson said the government was working to associate with the $155 billion Horizon Europe research fund. According to Astronomy Australia, that partnership would not include access to research infrastructure.<\/p>\n![\"Nobel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/a0a5a956145b1ddec8113ccda8e3e38c95ebcb89.jpeg\")
Nobel Laureate Professor Brian Schmidt. Rohan Thomson![\"Australian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/8660d14d1b89bdd9165a3ff7adf4e79217493ff4.jpeg\")
Australian scientists are helping develop laser communications technology on board the Orion spacecraft, (pictured) which has almost reached the moon.AP<\/p>\n![\"Size](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/217ea0adc767d66fe2ad0d733d607ad9e321e177.jpeg\")
Size matters in astronomy \u2013 and ESO operates some of the largest telescopes on Earth.ESO\/G.H\u00fcdepohl (atacamaphoto.com)![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/33102681e871829cd91a10881bdb0cc5a2fc2453.jpeg\")
An artist\u2019s impression of quasar J0529-4351, the most luminous object in the universe, pictured by an ESO telescope.ESO\/M. Kornmesser<\/p>\n![\"Australian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/da9182fbab48bc3e6e131a31905b3cb3d3ecbcf7.jpeg\")
Australian astronomer Professor Michael Ireland is currently working at the ESO\u2019s Paranal Observatory.ESO\/B. Tafreshi (twanight.org)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/be4767fa811be1effb3b55e5389742771654beff.jpeg\")
The SKA radio telescope in WA was meant to complement access to ESO\u2019s optical light telescopes.SKAO <\/p>\n