It will be based on the Island of La Palma in the Canaries and will be operational from late 2029 (first light). It is designed to be unstaffed therefore, carries out nightly observations using an intelligent scheduler and a suite of instruments. The telescope has an altitude/azimuth structure weighing around 60-70 tonnes and a Richey Cretien optical configuration with a segmented primary mirror. It is designed for ‘fast follow up’ and spectroscopic follow up. Therefore, will be able to respond to alerts and be on target, taking data in 30 seconds. The telescope is protected with a large clamshell style enclosure.
The NRT observatory and telescope are made up of four main systems: