The Italian ACe Consortium is the winning bidder of the ESO's E-ELT

EIE GROUP internationally recognized player in Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Big science, very active in Dome and Telescope engineering announces that the Italian ACe consortium, consisting of the industrial companies Astaldi SpA, Cimolai SpA, with EIE GROUP as nominated sub-contractor, is the winning bidder for the design, manufacture, transport and on-site assembly of the Dome and Main structure of ESO’s biggest telescope in the world: E-ELT (European Extremely Large Telescope).

ESO’s Financial Committee authorized ESO to enter into final discussion with the ACe Consortium, the winning bidder, at the end of an extraordinary session, last February 3rd, with the aim of contract signature in May 2016.

E-ELT will be a revolutionary optical instrument for medium and near infrared observations; the 39m diameter primary mirror will gather up to 13 times more light than the large optical telescopes operating today and it will give images 16 times more clearer than those obtained from the space telescope Hubble. E-ELT will definitely be the most powerful telescope in the world, equipped with ground-breaking technologies and innovative systems.
The E-ELT telescope is an extraordinary scientific and technology challenge that will revolutionize our perception of the Universe, as Galileo Galilei’s telescope did 400 years ago. More details and information will be given after contract signature.

EIE GROUP’s collaboration with ESO started long ago, in 1986 when the innovative NTT (New Technology Telescope), Rotating Building was first developed and built. In 1992 EIE was awarded the design and construction of the present most powerful telescope in the world: the VLT (Very Large Telescope), four big optical telescopes and in 1993 the relevant rotating buildings were built too. In 1997 it was the time for the rotating enclosure of the VST (VLT Survey Telescope), and in 1999 EIE developed the design and realization of the first ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter Array), radio-antenna prototype, which ended with the design and fabrication of the ESO’s 25 European ALMA Antennas.

EIE GROUP performed the first E-ELT rotating Dome and auxiliary buildings feasibility studies in 2007, through 2011. The bidding process for the detail design, manufacture, transport, on-site assembly, verification and acceptance tests started in 2012 and ended last December 2015.

Gianpietro Marchiori, EIE GROUP’s President and CEO comments: “these results are possible thanks to years of preparation and dedication, where creativity, talent, innovation and technology make a difference. The E-ELT will be an all-round challenge, both scientifically and in terms of technologies, with Italy as key player”.

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