TECHNOLOGY
Electronics
Telescopes with the Largest Aperture Size
This list features the largest telescopes in the world by aperture size. This includes telescopes currently under construction and slated to be complete this decade.
RANK | TELESCOPE | LOCATION | APERTURE DIAMETER | YEAR |
1 | 500-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) | Guizhou, China | 1,640 ft (500m) | 2020 |
2 | Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) | Atacama Desert, Chile | 128 ft (39.3m) | 2027 |
3 | Square Kilometre Array (SKA) | Australia & South Africa | 512 x 49.2 ft (513 x 15m) | 2027 |
4 | Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) | Maunakea, Hawaii, USA | 98 ft (30m) | — |
5 | Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) | Atacama Desert, Chile | 80 ft (24.5m) | 2029 |
6 | Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) | Atacama Desert, Chile | 39.4 ft (12m) | 2013 |
7 | South African Large Telescope (SALT) | Karoo, South Africa | 36 ft (11m) | 2005 |
8 | Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) | La Palma, Spain | 34.1 ft (10.4m) | 2006 |
9 | Keck Telescopes | Maunakea, Hawaii, USA | 32.8 ft (10m) | 1993 & 1996 |
10 | Hobby Eberly | Texas, USA | 32 ft (10m) | 1997 |
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