MEDIA RELEASE

HILO – The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo will begin the process of decommissioning the Hoku Keʻa, the UH Hilo Educational Telescope on Maunakea, in early 2016. UH Hilo will follow the decommissioning process outlined in the Office of Mauna Kea Management’s Comprehensive Management Plan.

The process is expected to be completed in 2018 after the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory’s scheduled decommissioning. Once the area is restored to its natural state, no new observatory will be built on the Hoku Keʻa site.

The Caltech Observatory announced in May that it is ending operations and will also begin the decommissioning process in 2016. As with the UH Hilo telescope, no new observatory will be built on the site.