Canada France Hawaii Telescope

What Canada France Hawaii Telescope does

The Canada France Hawaii Telescope Corporation operates a 3.6-meter optical and infrared observatory at the summit of Mauna Kea (4,200m), Hawaii, established in 1979 through a tri-national consortium of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), France's Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and the University of Hawaii. The corporation is a non-profit entity with approximately 40 employees headquartered in Waimea (Kamuela), Hawaii, serving professional astronomers from its three core agencies plus an expanding ring of associate partners — China NAOC, Taiwan, Korea, and European Union consortia via Opticon — with peer-reviewed observing time allocated by an independent Time Allocation Committee (TAC).

CFHT's core technical asset is a 3.6m aperture telescope supporting a portfolio of visitor and resident instruments: MegaCam (a 380-megapixel wide-field optical imager covering approximately one square degree per exposure), SPIRou (near-infrared spectropolarimeter for exoplanet detection), ESPaDOnS (high-resolution optical echelle spectrograph), and SITELLE (Fourier-transform imaging spectrometer). Two instruments — WIRCam and SITELLE — are scheduled for decommissioning at the end of 2026B. The forthcoming Wenaokeao optomechanical interface (formerly VISION, targeted for first science in 2027B) will enable simultaneous co-mounting of SPIRou and ESPaDOnS. Data products from the UNIONS survey, conducted jointly with Subaru and Pan-STARRS, provide approximately 43% of the European Space Agency's Euclid mission ground-based photometric coverage and have mapped dark matter structure across 3,500 square degrees spanning 61 million galaxies.

CFHT's revenue model is structurally government-funded. Recurring contributions flow from NRC, CNRS, and the University of Hawaii, supplemented by EU Opticon transnational access grants (notably the Horizon Europe ACME project), Taiwan collaboration agreements, and limited ancillary merchandise revenue such as Hawaiian Starlight calendars. Observing time is not commercially sold and is awarded through peer review. In December 2024 the Board elected to halt Mauna Kea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE) design and development activities to prioritize sustaining current CFHT operations through the 2030s, signaling a strategic shift from transformational expansion toward steady-state preservation of the existing 3.6m facility and instrument suite.

Name

Canada France Hawaii Telescope

Legal name

Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Corporation

Website

https://cfht.hawaii.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Canada France Hawaii Telescope Corporation operates a 3.6-meter optical/infrared observatory on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, providing peer-reviewed observing time to professional astronomers from core partners NRC (Canada), CNRS (France), and the University of Hawaii, plus associate partners in China, Taiwan, Korea, and the European Union.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Kamuela

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Government Agency Funding: CFHT is a non-profit organization primarily funded through contributions from three main partner agencies: National Research Council of Canada (NRC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) of France, and University of Hawaii. Additional funding from European Union through Opticon and Taiwan through collaboration agreements.
2. Merchandise Sales (Hawaiian Starlight): Sales of astronomy wall calendars (US$28 shipped domestically, US$20 in-person cash purchase), DVDs, prints, and other outreach materials. Revenue supports outreach and education programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Canada France Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) operates a 3.6-meter optical and near-infrared telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, providing competitive peer-reviewed telescope time, wide-field imaging, and spectroscopic data products to professional astronomers. The facility is a non-profit consortium partnership among the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), France's Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and the University of Hawaii, with associate partners including NAOC (China), Korea, Taiwan, and the European Union through Opticon. CFHT also delivers public outreach through the Hawaiian Starlight program and 24/7 livestream webcam services.

Product overview

The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope is a non-profit astronomical observatory operating a world-class 3.6m telescope atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The facility offers a suite of scientific instruments including MegaCam (wide-field optical imager with 380 megapixels), WIRCam (near-infrared imager, being decommissioned in 2027), SPIRou (near-infrared spectrograph), ESPaDOnS (optical spectrograph), and SITELLE (spectrograph, being decommissioned in 2027). Access to telescope time is managed through the Kealahou proposal submission system. Major survey programs include UNIONS (Canada-France Imaging Survey), PLANETS (exoplanet characterization), and Pristine (Milky Way metallicity mapping). Future capabilities include Wenaokeao (SPIRou/ESPaDOnS co-mount, expected 2027) and Pathfinder (IFU/MOS instrument). The observatory provides public outreach through Hawaiian Starlight publications, StarCam livestreams, and webcams. MSE (MaunaKea Spectroscopic Explorer) is a long-term 11.25m telescope upgrade vision, though currently on hold per December 2024 Board recommendation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MegaCam: Wide-field optical imaging camera at CFHT, consisting of 40 CCDs totaling 380 megapixels with 1x1 square degree field of view
• WIRCam
• SPIRou
• ESPaDOnS
• SITELLE
• Wenaokeao
• UNIONS
• Pathfinder

Products and services

• Hawaiian Starlight 2026 Astronomy Calendar Annual wall calendar featuring 12 astronomical images obtained with CFHT's MegaCam and CFH12K wide-field CCD imaging cameras. Sold for US$28 with USA domestic shipping via USPS, or US$20 in-person at CFHT HQ in Waimea, Hawai'i (cash only). Targets astronomy enthusiasts and the general public.
• CFHT-Asahi StarCam 4K Livestream 4K ultra-high-definition all-weather video camera system live-streaming 24/7 on YouTube, capturing Maunakea sunsets, transient sky events, and other observatories. Joint project of CFHT and Asahi Shimbun in collaboration with Subaru Telescope/NAOJ. Provided free to public viewers under GNU Free Documentation License terms.
• Maunakea Webcams 24/7 live dome webcam images from the summit of Maunakea, including low-light CloudCams for night sky imaging, livestream, and all-sky (Nānā ao) images. Provides public viewing of CFHT and Maunakea summit area on a best-effort basis.
• Hawaiian Starlight Film and Publications Astronomical image publication program and film exploring the universe from Maunakea, a collaboration between CFHT and Edizioni Scientifiche Coelum since 2000. Includes annual wall calendars, posters, DVDs, videos, and wallpapers distributed to the public.

Quantifiable outcome

• UNIONS contributes 43% of Euclid ground-based coverage essential for Stage IV cosmological dark energy measurement
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UNIONS (Ultraviolet Near Infrared Optical Northern Survey)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUNIONS is a collaboration of three major facilities - Subaru, Pan-STARRS, and CFHT - with 240+ members worldwide. The survey provides definitive large area multi-band ground-based wide-field imaging critical for Euclid space mission. CFHT/MegaCam provides unparalleled u-band sensitivity and excellent r-band performance essential for 43% of Euclid's ground-based coverage.
• European Space Agency (Euclid Mission)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCFHT provides ground-based color data from Mauna Kea observations that complement ESA's Euclid space telescope data. CFHT color observations enable photometric measurements for the Milky Way's center image containing 60 million stars, supporting exoplanet detection via microlensing techniques.
• ACME (Astrophysics Centre for Multimessenger Studies in Europe)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFunded by European Union's Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme (Grant Agreement No. 101131928), ACME enables Transnational Access to CFHT based on scientific merit for multi-messenger astrophysics studies. Proposals submitted through French Agency (CNRS) with CFHT providing scientific support and training.
• Terapix Data Processing CentercoreTechnology or IntegrationTerapix data processing center based in Paris (Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris) provides data processing services to CFHT community including data stacking, fine astrometric calibration, and catalogs generation for MegaCam surveys.
• Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC)coreTechnology or IntegrationCADC in Victoria, Canada archives raw and pre-processed CFHT data. Data becomes public after one-year proprietary period. CADC provides registration and data access services for CFHT users.
• National Research Council of Canada (NRC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNRC is one of three primary partner agencies operating CFHT. Provides significant funding and scientific leadership. Designates 4 members to the Scientific Advisory Council and operates Canadian TAC (CanTAC) for proposal review.
• Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), FrancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCNRS is one of three primary partner agencies operating CFHT. Provides significant funding and scientific leadership through French agency. Designates 4 members to the Scientific Advisory Council and operates French TAC for proposal review.
• University of Hawai'icoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of Hawai'i is one of three primary partner agencies operating CFHT. Designates 2 members to the Scientific Advisory Council. Provides local institutional support and access to Hawaiian astronomical community.
• OMP/IRAP (Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées / Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique)coreTechnology or IntegrationIRAP leads the development of Wenaokeao (formerly VISION) optomechanical interface project in collaboration with CFHT. Project enables simultaneous installation of SPIRou and ESPaDOnS at Cassegrain focus. Funding provided by CFHT and CNRS in France.
• Korea Astronomy Observatory / CosPA TaiwanminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWIRCam was funded through special contributions from Korea Astronomy Observatory and the Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics consortium (CosPA) of Taiwan, in addition to primary Canadian and French agency funding.
• European Union (Opticon)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCFHT is open to astronomers from the European Union through Opticon partnership agreements, providing additional access to the facility for European researchers.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CFHTelescope
• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=MPokOMJvZ-g
• Facebookfacebook.com/cfhtelescope
• Instagraminstagram.com/CFHTelescope
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/canada-france-hawaii-telescope-corporation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Canada France Hawaii Telescope