(updated 17 July 2025)
The project schedule saw no significant change since quicker progress on baseline activities will be overcome by management plans for a longer engineering period that follows the science validation surveys. This engineering work is now being expanded through in-progress change requests to extend the Construction Project to 24 October in order to provide the focused engineering period needed to finish key observatory systems, mainly the dome light wind screen. The finish date formally remains 19 September, but both the Construction and Operations teams are preparing for a change in the official hand-over, upon Agency approval, of the Observatory Construction Project on 24 October. This date will be recognized as substantial completion appropriate for the Observatory to be led by the Operations team toward the start of the LSST.
Project earned value toward the MREFC effort increased by $2.3 million this month to a calculated $548.6 million. The cost variance changed by -$0.5 million this month at -$2.0 million, and the cost performance index held at 1.00. The schedule variance changed by -$0.1 million to -$2.2 million, which equates to a schedule performance index of 1.00. One project controls change request (LCR) was implemented this month requesting $114,660 from contingency. As of the end of the month, the project has allocated 91% of the total contingency to the baseline through the change control process. The remaining contingency of $9.4 million is 67% of (TPCII[1] -BAC[2]-CV)/(EACII[3]-ACWP[4]).
(ETC = Estimate to completion, BAC = Budget at completion, BCWP = Budgeted cost of work performed).
The following list of milestones dates were extracted from the project control system at the end of the April 2025 accounting peiod.
A visual of the below list can be found here.
The table shows forecast dates, i.e., the Project’s current best estimate. There is, in addition, schedule contingency that is not included in those dates, amounting to about 6 weeks at present. It is likely that the Project will use most or all of that schedule contingency.
The schedule for science data is best estimated relative to the System First Light Milestone. The Operations Team, in consultation with the Rubin Construction Project, currently anticipate the following:
(Updated 23 June 2025)
Financial support for Rubin Observatory comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Cooperative Agreement No. 1258333, the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515, and private funding raised by the LSST Corporation. The NSF-funded Rubin Observatory Project Office for construction was established as an operating center under management of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). The DOE-funded effort to build the Rubin Observatory LSST Camera (LSSTCam) is managed by the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC).
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an
independent federal agency created by Congress
in 1950 to promote the progress of science. NSF supports basic research and people to create knowledge that transforms the future.
NSF and DOE will continue to support Rubin Observatory in its Operations phase. They will also provide support for scientific research with LSST data.
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