Portuguese companies win contracts to build the world's most advanced optical telescope

It has been called “the world’s largest eye on the sky.” In fact, the E-ELT ( European Extremely Large Telescope ) will have a main mirror measuring 39 meters in diameter and will be able to collect 13 times more radiation than the largest optical telescopes in existence. The E-ELT will also be able to correct for the effects of atmospheric distortion, and produce images 16 times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope. The E-ELT will take nine years to become operational, with the first observations expected in 2024. Construction of this ambitious telescope will begin in 2016, and in Call launched by ESO for Phase 1, two Portuguese entities stood out among international competitors, to secure contracts worth a cumulative 1.5 million euros.

CRITICAL Software , a software solutions developer, and ISQ , a private entity that provides inspection, testing, engineering, training and technical consulting services, have just signed contracts with ESO for 3 years, with the option to extend for up to 9 and 10 years, respectively.

CRITICAL Software's proposal beat 12 others, presented by companies from the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Chile. The ISQ proposal was the best ranked among five evaluated, submitted by similar organizations from Spain and Germany.

With this agreement, CRITICAL Software will ensure independent software validation and verification (ISV&V) services for the E-ELT program. The tasks envisaged include the analysis of software requirements of the telescope control systems and the preparation and execution of manual and automatic tests, among others. ISQ will ensure the verification of materials, parts and final products through audits, surveillance, tests and independent inspections, in order to support ESO in Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) of construction and assembly, together with manufacturers of the most critical structures and systems.

The activities of both will take place in the assembly, integration and verification phases, in several European countries, in Brazil and at the E-ELT construction site, on Cerro Amazones, a mountain approximately 3,060 meters high, on the Atacama desert plateau, in Chile. With this powerful “eye,” the international astronomical community will be able to study the greatest scientific challenges of our time – the search for Earth-like extrasolar planets, the measurement of the properties of the first stars and galaxies, and the nature of dark matter and dark energy.

According to Pedro Carneiro, vice-president of FCT, the entity that represents Portugal on the ESO Council, “The success of CRITICAL Software and ISQ demonstrates the international competitiveness of our industry and the close monitoring of the Portuguese delegation at ESO.”

“This is excellent news for ESO, for Portugal and for FCT, ISQ and CRITICAL Software. ESO will benefit from the experience, professionalism and dynamism of two entities that have distinguished themselves internationally in sectors traditionally dominated by companies from more developed countries in terms of technological and organizational capacity”, says Paulo Chaves, Business Leader at ISQ.

For Paulo Guedes, Business Development Director at CRITICAL Software, “We are very pleased to have been selected to build the world’s most advanced optical telescope together with ISQ. This is an unequivocal international recognition of the quality of the work of both ISQ and CRITICAL Software, which over the years has stood out in extremely demanding areas and markets.”