The University of Hawaii has secured a potential 10-year, $85.5 million contract from NASA to maintain and operate the Infrared Telescope Facility, or IRTF, on Mauna Kea in Hilo, Hawaii.
NASA said Friday the university will create and execute an operations strategy to enable the scientific community to use the telescope to help the agency achieve its scientific discovery, mission support and planetary defense goals.
The contract has a one-year base period of performance with nine option years, which could extend these activities until the end of 2033 if exercised.
IRTF is a 3.2-meter telescope designed to provide infrared observations of the solar system in support of NASA’s mission objectives.