The Simons Observatory

What The Simons Observatory does

The Simons Observatory is an experimental cosmology research facility that maps the sky at millimeter wavelengths to study the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) — the oldest light in the universe, leftover radiation from the Big Bang. Founded in 2016 with $40 million in initial grants from the Simons Foundation and Heising-Simons Foundation, the observatory is located at 5,190 meters elevation on Cerro Toco in Chile's Atacama Desert, one of the highest and driest observation sites on Earth. It is operated as a scientific collaboration involving more than 350 physicists, engineers, and technologists from over 50 institutions worldwide, including founding partners the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, University of Chicago, UC San Diego, UC Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The facility's core instrumentation consists of a single 6-meter Large Aperture Telescope (LAT) using a Crossed Dragone design with an unprecedented 7.8-degree field-of-view, paired with the Large Aperture Telescope Receiver (LATR) — a 2.4-meter cryogenically cooled camera housing approximately 30,000 superconducting Transition Edge Sensor (TES) detectors (expanding to 60,000) operating at 0.1 Kelvin across six frequency bands from 30 to 300 GHz. Complementing the LAT are multiple 0.5-meter Small Aperture Telescopes (SATs), each containing roughly 3,000 pixels with four polarization-sensitive detectors per pixel (totaling ~12,000 detectors per SAT), featuring sapphire-based half-wave plate polarization modulators on superconducting magnetic bearings. The observatory achieved first light with the LAT in March 2025 and began science observations in June 2024.

The Simons Observatory does not sell products or services commercially and generates no revenue. It is funded through philanthropic grants from the Simons Foundation and Heising-Simons Foundation, U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) grants including a $52M Advanced Simons Observatory (ASO) upgrade award, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and STFC funding for the SO:UK component, and JSPS funding for SO:JP. Scientific data and CMB maps are released openly to the global research community, with the observatory also investing heavily in public outreach and educational programs such as CMB Data Schools, Astronomy on Tap, Skype a Scientist, and the Simons-NSBP Scholars Program.

Name

The Simons Observatory

Legal name

The Simons Observatory

Website

https://simonsobservatory.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

The Simons Observatory is a grant-funded experimental cosmology facility that maps the cosmic microwave background using millimeter-wavelength telescopes in Chile's Atacama Desert, serving the global scientific research community with publicly released data.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Experimental Cosmology Research Facility

NAICS

Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (541360)

SIC

Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Optical Instruments & Lenses (3827)

akta.pro primary industry

Space Payloads & Instruments (Sensors, Comms, EO/IR) (IMABACAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Space & Astronomy Programs (EDAMABAE)

Keywords

• Cosmic microwave background research
• Millimeter wavelength telescopes
• Experimental cosmology
• CMB observations
• Astrophysics research

Headquarters

HQ city

Atacama

HQ country

Chile

HQ region

Latin America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Foundation Funding: Primary funding from the Simons Foundation and Heising-Simons Foundation through grants such as Simons Foundation Award #457687, supporting observatory construction and operations.
2. Government Research Grants: National Science Foundation (NSF) funding through the Advanced Simons Observatory (ASO) initiative, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Infrastructure Fund, STFC, and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) funding for SO:UK and SO:JP projects respectively.
3. Institutional Contributions: Support from founding institutions including University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, University of Chicago, UC San Diego, UC Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

The Simons Observatory is a high-altitude experimental cosmology facility in Chile's Atacama Desert operating millimeter-wavelength telescopes to map the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) with unprecedented sensitivity. It offers a Large Aperture Telescope and multiple Small Aperture Telescopes equipped with cryogenically cooled superconducting detector arrays to enable precision measurements of CMB temperature and polarization. The observatory delivers scientific data products and findings on inflation, dark matter, neutrinos, and galaxy formation to the global scientific community and public.

Product overview

The Simons Observatory is an experimental cosmology facility comprising a suite of millimeter-wavelength telescopes for studying the Cosmic Microwave Background. The core instruments include a 6-meter Large Aperture Telescope (LAT) equipped with the Large Aperture Telescope Receiver (LATR) housing ~30,000-60,000 detectors across six frequency bands, and three 0.5-meter Small Aperture Telescopes (SATs) each containing ~12,000 polarization-sensitive detectors. Future expansion includes additional SATs from SO:UK (UK consortium) and SO:JP (Japan) projects. The observatory is located at 5190m elevation in Chile's Atacama Desert.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Large Aperture Telescope (LAT) A 6-meter diameter Crossed Dragone Telescope providing a high-resolution, 7.8 degree field-of-view of the Cosmic Microwave Background, equipped with the Large Aperture Telescope Receiver (LATR). Used by the cosmology research community for precision CMB measurements.
• Small Aperture Telescopes (SATs)

Quantifiable outcome

• Achieved first light milestone for Large Aperture Telescope in March 2025
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Universidad de ChilecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFormal agreement partner enabling SO operations in Chile. Collaborates with Chilean academic institutions and national authorities including the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge, and Innovation.
• Parque Astronomico de Atacama (PAA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost site specifically designed for astronomical projects. SO is graciously hosted within PAA, which has been carefully studied for cultural and environmental heritage preservation.
• University of PennsylvaniacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding institution and major contributor. Led by Mark Devlin, Penn cosmology team is ready to field the largest ever CMB camera. Awarded NSF grants for SO upgrades.
• Princeton UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding institution with significant involvement led by researchers including Jo Dunkley, Lyman Page, Suzanne Staggs, and others in instrument development and science analysis.
• University of ChicagocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding institution and host of annual collaboration meetings. Home to researchers including Mark Devlin, Jeff McMahon, and Kathleen Harrington working on instrumentation.
• University of California, San DiegocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding institution led by Brian Keating, focusing on detector development and science analysis. UC San Diego Today reported $30M in funding for SO research.
• University of California, Berkeley / Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratorycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding institution partnership with major contributions to instrumentation including Adrian Lee's group and Julian Borrill's computational work.
• SO:UK ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK consortium led by University of Manchester including Cardiff, Oxford, Cambridge, Sussex, and Imperial College London. Delivering two additional SATs, data center, and software pipeline development.
• Advanced Simons Observatory (ASO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNSF-funded initiative to maximize LAT capabilities, develop enhanced data management systems, and install photovoltaic power plant for site energy security.
• Chilean GovernmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Chilean national authorities including the Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge, and Innovation, and Agencia Nacional de Investigacion y Desarrollo (ANID).
• National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST)coreTechnology or IntegrationNIST researchers provide expertise in superconducting detector technology, contributing to TES arrays and microwave SQUID multiplexing systems for the observatory.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• South Pole Telescope (SPT): University of Chicago-led ground-based CMB telescope at the South Pole. SPT operates at a comparable scale to SO with comparable science goals (CMB temperature/polarization, cluster surveys, inflationary B-modes).
• CLASS (Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor): Johns Hopkins-led ground-based CMB polarimeter operating in Chile's Atacama. Targets the same large-angle B-mode sky as SO's SATs with comparable detector technology.
• BICEP / Keck Array: Caltech/Harvard-led CMB polarization experiment at the South Pole focused on inflationary B-mode searches. Shares the same CMB science case, detector development lineage, and many institutional members as SO.
• Simons Array / POLARBEAR: Japanese-led CMB polarization experiment located in the Atacama and a direct SO predecessor. Shares site infrastructure, telescope design heritage, and JSPS-supported institutional partners.
• Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT): Princeton-led ground-based CMB experiment also located in the Chilean Atacama Desert. ACT is a direct predecessor and ongoing collaborator of SO, sharing site, instrumentation lineage, and many institutional members.

Regional players

• Vera C. Rubin Observatory: Ground-based optical survey observatory also under construction in Chile's Cerro Pachón. Operates in a different wavelength regime but shares Chilean high-altitude site logistics, LSST-era cross-correlation science opportunities, and several institutional partners.

Others

• NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (CMB programs): Major US government lab supporting WMAP and ongoing CMB technology development. Acts as a peer institutional participant in CMB research with overlapping detector-development capabilities and cross-institutional personnel.

Broad incumbents

• Planck (ESA): Retired ESA space mission that produced the definitive all-sky CMB temperature and polarization maps. Planck data remains the calibration baseline for SO and other ground-based CMB experiments.

Emerging players

• CMB-S4: Planned next-generation US-led ground-based CMB experiment targeting an order-of-magnitude sensitivity improvement over SO and other Stage-3 experiments. Direct competitor for NSF funding and the long-term CMB user community.
• LiteBIRD: JAXA-led space-based CMB polarization mission targeting primordial gravitational waves. Overlaps SO's primary science case from space and represents the main competing platform for inflationary B-mode detection in the 2030s.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/simonsobs
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/SimonsObservatory
• Facebookfacebook.com/SimonsObs
• Instagraminstagram.com/simonsobs
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/simons-obs

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The Simons Observatory