Government agency cites prioritization process in ending support after 2028
LONDON — Government funding body U.K. Research and Innovation announced Monday that it will no longer fund the Lovell telescope, whose 250-foot-wide (76-meter-wide) parabolic reflecting bowl is a local landmark. It’s part of a network of seven radio telescopes across the country known as e-Merlin connected to the Jodrell Bank astrophysics center south of Manchester.
UKRI said the telescope array will not receive public funding after March 2028, following “a rigorous prioritization process to focus investment on the areas that will deliver the greatest long-term scientific capability, impact and value for the U.K.”
Scientists said the decision cuts funding to a site that has been helping explore the cosmos for almost 70 years.