Netherlands in the race for massive underground telescope project: Budget Day leak

The Netherlands is in the running for the prestigious project - the Einstein Telescope, an underground telescope of 10 by 10 by 10 kilometers. On Budget Day tomorrow, the government will announce that it has allocated millions of euros to win this project and build the massive underground telescope in Limburg, sources told RTL Nieuws.

The investment is remarkable, given that the Schoof I Cabinet is also planning massive budget cuts to science. According to RTL’s sources, the government wants to build the Einstien Telescope in Zuid-Limburg, on the border with Belgium and Germany, and working with the two neighboring countries. The total cost of the project is estimated at around 2 billion euros. The European Union will decide which country will build the Einstein Telescope in 2026. Italy is also in the running.

The underground telescope will be built at a depth of over 250 meters in the shape of a triangle. Each side will be 10 kilometers long. The long tunnels will capture gravitational waves, discovered by Albert Einstein, hence the name. Limburg is also investing in the project and has already set up a prototype at a laboratory in Maastricht.

“[Gravitational waves] are super, super small vibrations from space. These waves can offer us many new insights about the universe,” physicist Stan Bentvelsen, involved in the project, told RTL Nieuws. “With this amazing piece of technology, we can learn so many new things. Gain knowledge about the Big Bang or black holes. Learn how the universe works.”

The government and province plan to spend millions on innovation and techniques to build the telescope. The province will also have a special Einstein Academy, where hundreds of secondary and higher vocational students will be trained to build and maintain the telescope.