UH moves ahead with UKIRT shutdown on Maunakea by 2026
UKIRT's science work ends Sept. 15, starting a teardown that will run to 2030 and reshape jobs, research and stewardship on Maunakea.
University of Hawaii is moving ahead with the shutdown of the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope on Maunakea, setting a Sept. 15, 2026 end date for science operations and laying out a decommissioning process that UH expects to finish by 2030. The telescope, a 3.8-meter instrument that has observed in infrared wavelengths from 1 to 30 micrometers, has been part of the mountain’s astronomy landscape since 1979.
UKIRT will be the third observatory decommissioned under UH’s Maunakea plan, following the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory and the UH Hilo Hōkū Kea Observatory, both completed in 2024. UH says the effort reflects aging infrastructure, funding pressure and obligations under the University of Hawaii master plan and the broader stewardship framework for Maunakea.
For Hawaii Island, the impact is immediate in the observatory workforce. UH said eight full-time employees support UKIRT operations, and all eight will remain employed through the Sept. 15 closure date. The telescope’s science program has also been tied to a wider network of research partners over the years, including the U.S. Naval Observatory.
UH Institute for Astronomy director Doug Simons called UKIRT a highly productive telescope that expanded understanding of the universe, trained generations of astronomers and strengthened Hawaii’s standing as a place for discovery. The observatory was built between 1975 and 1978 and brought into operation in 1979. UH Institute for Astronomy took ownership in 2014 after United Kingdom funding ended.
The next phase now moves from science operations to teardown planning. UH said it will hire a consultant this fall to develop a detailed cost estimate, project schedule and permitting plan for the decommissioning, with the construction company for the project expected to work closely with the Center for Maunakea Stewardship, the Institute for Astronomy and other UH offices. The process follows the 2010 Decommissioning Plan for the Maunakea observatories, which sets out a four-step path for removal and site restoration, while the Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority, created under Act 255, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022, is set to take on management responsibility after the transition.
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