The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) continues to make progress in the construction of the SELF (Small ExoLife Finder) telescope with the arrival of its mechanical structure at the IACTec facilities. The structure, shipped from the Basque Country, marks a new milestone in the development of this scientific and technological project.

The assembly has been received at the IACTec Building, located in the Las Mantecas Science and Technology Park (La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife), a strategic site dedicated to the design, integration and validation of advanced astronomical instrumentation and large scientific infrastructures.

The structure was manufactured and successfully underwent Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT) at the facilities of AVS Added Value Industrial Engineering Solutions in Gipuzkoa (Basque Country). These tests verified the telescope’s movements along both axes, as well as its behaviour under vibration and structural deformation. The results confirmed that the system meets the technical and engineering requirements established for the project.

With its arrival at IACTec, a new key phase in the development of SELF now begins, focusing on integration and mirror alignment tests. This stage is a prerequisite for its future installation at the Teide Observatory, where the telescope will enter its operational phase.

A key prototype towards the ELF telescope

SELF is being developed within the framework of the IAC’s Laboratory for Innovation in Optomechanics (LIOM), which benefits from a five-year ERA Chair European funding programme. The aim of this initiative is to create a dedicated platform for the design and validation of disruptive optical and mechanical technologies that will form part of the next generation of ground- and space-based telescopes.

LIOM investigates innovative solutions such as ultra-lightweight mirrors, pre-tensioned cable-based structures (tensegrity), advanced photonics, and new techniques for wavefront detection and control. These technologies are essential to achieving the levels of resolution and contrast required for the direct observation of exoplanets.

In this context, SELF acts as a technological prototype for the future ExoLife Finder (ELF) telescope, a large-scale infrastructure designed to study exoplanet atmospheres and search for potential biomarkers associated with life beyond the Solar System. With a diameter of approximately 3.5 metres and an array of 15 primary mirrors of 0.5 metres each, SELF makes it possible to validate, at full scale, the technologies that will enable the future construction of telescopes exceeding 30 metres in diameter, with significantly lower weight and cost than current designs.

Diego Tamayo, Control Engineer at the IAC’s Laboratory for Innovation in Optomechanics (LIOM), highlighted the team’s enthusiasm for this new milestone: “We are very excited about the arrival of the SELF structure. Anyone passing through the Las Mantecas Science and Technology Park can see it from outside, either in its packaging, as it is now, or in the enclosure where it will be housed from March onwards — you might even catch us working on it.”

For his part, Nicolas Lodieu, project scientist of SELF, emphasised the scientific relevance of the project: “The arrival of SELF at IACTec marks an important milestone in our long-term quest to find life in the Universe, paving the way for the development of lighter and more affordable telescopes in the future.”

Science and innovation from the Canary Islands

The development of SELF is also part of the strategy of the CELESTE project (Cutting Edge Leap to Excellence in Space and Optics Technologies), a European initiative led by the IAC aimed at consolidating a Centre of Excellence in advanced optical and new space technologies.

Through CELESTE, LIOM and other specialised laboratories operate as a technological ecosystem covering the entire development cycle, from research and design to validation, innovation and knowledge transfer.

This infrastructure will strengthen the IAC’s capacity to develop cutting-edge astronomical instrumentation, foster international collaboration, and generate long-term scientific, technological and socio-economic impact. The arrival of the SELF structure at IACTec therefore represents a decisive step within a European-scale scientific and technological strategy, positioning the Canary Islands as an international reference hub in astronomy and advanced optical technologies.

Funded by the European Union (ERA Chair) and by the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR, by its Spanish acronym). The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the REA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.