ESFRI approved the European Solar Telescope at its 97th meeting in Cork on 23 and 24 September 2026, adding the project to Europe’s strategic research infrastructures. Spain plans to build the telescope at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on La Palma. Europa Press reported the decision, citing the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC).
Landmark status is more than a ceremonial label. ESFRI uses the category for research infrastructures it considers strategic for Europe, whether they are already operating or have reached an advanced stage of execution. The list also includes the Observatorio CTA (CTAO) and the Observatorio del SKA (SKAO). The Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) participates in both.
Current planning reported by regional Spanish media points to construction starting around 2028, with the telescope expected to enter service around 2038. Those dates are operational targets, not a final approved timetable. La Provincia reported the planning.
The telescope will study the Sun in fine detail. Its measurements will add to data from space missions and help researchers examine space weather, particularly how solar activity affects Earth's space environment.
That work will require several countries to stay involved. Project coordinator Manuel Collados says no single institution or country could build infrastructure of this scale alone. The next task is to turn the shared scientific plan into long-term construction commitments.
The project has been on the ESFRI Roadmap since 2016. Spain leads it through the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias and the CSIC via the IAA-CSIC. Since 2023, both institutions have belonged to the Fundación EST, alongside eight other entities from seven European countries.
The Cork meeting was also linked to preparations for the ESFRI Roadmap 2026, which stakeholders expected to present on 2 December 2026 in Rome. The ESFRI Stakeholder Forum 2026 described the EST decision as part of a broader European process for coordinating strategic research infrastructures.
The planned instrument will have a 4.2-metre primary mirror. Its instruments will observe several levels of the solar atmosphere at different wavelengths simultaneously. Researchers want to track magnetic fields emerging on the Sun's surface and examine energy transfer into the upper atmosphere, including the physical processes behind solar eruptions.
The project's European scale differs sharply from the household focus of the earlier Euribor report. One story concerns borrowing costs; the other, a research facility that depends on commitments from several countries. Both involve decisions with effects that last beyond the day they are announced.
The telescope could also support research on other stars and the habitability of exoplanets. For Spain, La Palma would host a facility with national and European scientific value. ESFRI recognition gives the project stronger institutional backing, but construction still depends on the long-term commitments Manuel Collados described.
